40% of young women endure unwanted sexual touching in first six months of college

Four in 10 young women experienced unwanted sexual touching within six months of starting college. File picture

The first year of college is a high-risk period for sexual violence, with four in 10 young women experiencing unwanted sexual touching within the first six months of starting. 

The details are included in a new analysis of figures by Active* Consent which looked at the relationship between sexual violence victimisation, alcohol use, and drug use. 

The study focused on almost 1,800 first-year students who took part in the 2020 Sexual Experiences Survey. It found that almost three in 10 young women had experienced completed penetration against their will, similar to the definition of rape.

A further one in five (22%) male students had experienced unwanted sexual touching, and 9% had experienced penetration against their will.

The most common perpetrator tactic described by females was incapacitation by alcohol or drugs (35%), followed by coercion (34%), and force / threat of force (20%).

Meanwhile, consent classes, first piloted in universities around Ireland, could be rolled out internationally on North American college campuses.

The classes, which originally began a decade ago with student focus groups at the University of Galway, are now a major national sexual consent education programme involving 22 higher education institutions.

More than 92,000 college students have taken part in consent workshops since 2019, figures published today by Active* Consent show.

More than 92,000 college students have taken part in consent workshops since 2019, figures published today by Active* Consent show.

On Thursday, the research initative launched its new five-year plan, which includes plans to expand its training to the private and public sector, as well as continuing outreach in education here. Between now and 2027, the programme plans to work with North American universities, and adapt its programme to meet the needs of students outside of Ireland.

It also plans to initiate new research that focuses on how ideas and roles concerning consent evolve for teenagers and young men.

Dr Pádraig McNeela, University of Galway lecturer and Active* Consent Team co-lead, said: “Working together with partners such as Galway Rape Crisis Centre, our team designed approximately 20 different resources in the past four years, that take a learning community from brief social media messaging, to consent workshops and arts-based interventions, and on to the specialised training that enables staff members to lead a consent project.” 

Dr Siobhán O’Higgins, senior researcher and co-lead on Active* Consent, said the programme “promotes the ethos that consent is ongoing, mutual, and freely given”.