Report reveals need for education on consent and pornography

Over a third of people who carry out child sexual abuse are children themselves - and the vast majority are boys.

A report from the Rape Crisis Network has found that children under 13 are most likely to abused by a family member.

But the opposite is true for teenage girls - whose vulnerability to rape increases with age.

This is the first report to look at child sex abuse and how it effects children of different ages and gender.

It found that the family members pose the greatest risk to children - not strangers - and that is particularly true for children under 13.

The report also highlights abuse carried out by children themselves - 37% of all perpetrators are children, 97% of them are boys.

Director General of the RCNI Fiona Neary said that we need to rethink our perception of abusers.

"People who perpetrate sexual violence as we are leering more and more is your average typical person," she said.

"We have seen a situation in Athlone which is quite different to that

"On a day to day basis the average typical sex offender is the boy in your class in school who you start going out with and who says to you if you don't have sex with me or do what I want I will tell your friends that you did it anyway."

The RCNI is blaming pornography for distorting the image of sex and consent among boys.

"Even when rape and gang rapes are portrayed in pornography there is never any issues of consent it is always presented as the victim wanted it," said Ms Neary.

"So what is this doing for our teenagers if this is where they are getting some of their sex education."

Speaking at the launch of the report, the Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said she has given the go ahead for the appointment of eight new child sex abuse prevention positions around the country - four of which will deal specifically with children who display sexually harmful behaviour:

"We want to work on prevention we don't want this abuse to continue," she said.

"We want to stop young abusers from going on to become adult abusers that is the reason for working with these children who actually abuse themselves."