Compulsory sex consent classes on cards

Colleges and universities could be forced to provide compulsory sexual consent classes after a shock report found two-thirds of young women have been pressured into sex or faced crude sexual taunts while on campus.

Minister of state for higher education Mary Mitchell O’Connor said she will push for the changes to be introduced immediately after admitting she was left “taken aback” by the findings and serious concerns over sexual consent knowledge among young people.

According to an NUI Galway report based on the views of 1,934 third-level students who took part in a Smart Consent survey:

- 70% of women and 40% of men attending college or university have suffered “sexual hostility” or “crude gender harassment” while on campus.

- A further 70% of women and 60% of men in college or university said they believe the sexual-health classes they were given in school were inadequate

- 53% of boys in Ireland first watched pornography before they turned 13, which is believed to impact on their understanding of sexual consent

Ms Mitchell O’Connor said the “troubling” findings show there is a clear need for compulsory sexual consent classes to be introduced in colleges and universities.

I do actually think it is time. This report is really new. We’re hearing stuff we hadn’t heard before, we’re hearing issues in our third-level institutions and I, as a minister, want to make sure our institutions are a safe place to study,” she said.

Ms Mitchell O’Connor also said there is a need for “fit for purpose” sexual health classes in primary and secondary schools in order to tackle any issues among young teens, adding the findings show a “culture problem” that should act as a “wake up call for all of us”.