Older generations less likely to believe rape allegations if there are no visible signs 

Respondents were asked whether they disagreed or agreed with five statements — which the CSO said were general misconceptions or 'rape myths'.

Older generations are more likely not to believe rape allegations from victims if there are no visible signs, new data has shown.

In its sixth and final set of results from its sexual violence survey 2012, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has looked at the public's attitudes towards sexual violence, particularly from those who had not experienced sexual violence in their lifetime or sexual harassment in the previous 12 months.

Women were more likely to think sexual violence is common in Ireland than menhttps://t.co/kBfsWTswtu#CSOIreland #Ireland #SexualViolenceSurvey #SVS #Crime #SocialInterests #Health #SafetyOfThePerson pic.twitter.com/i57dOYA3fE

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) October 5, 2023

Respondents were asked whether they disagreed or agreed with five statements — which the CSO said were general misconceptions or "rape myths". 

The first of these was: "If a person who has been raped is not visibly upset by the experience, it probably was not rape."

Overall, the majority of men (88%) and women (86%) disagreed with the statement — with one in 10 'uncertain' about it and 2% of respondents agreeing.

Those aged 65 and over were less likely to disagree with the statement — with 6% agreeing — and three times more likely to be uncertain about it when compared with younger age groups.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland executive director Dr Clíona Saidléar welcomed the data.

"Almost 90% of people surveyed understand that rape victims may not be visibly upset. This points to a significant shift towards an openness to believe survivors and perhaps an understanding that different people react differently to sexual violence," she said. 

"In other words, increasingly the Irish public is showing a willingness to not act as judge and jury regarding survivors."

The second statement put forward by the CSO read: "Women often make up or exaggerate reports of rape."

Overall, 62% of adults disagreed with the statement, with women more likely than men to disagree. However, 9% of male respondents agreed with the statement.

Once again, those aged 65 and over were three times more likely to agree with the statement than those aged between 35-44.

Ms Saidléar said: "What we also see in the data released today by the CSO is a generational difference — there is positive news in that younger respondents are less likely to regard allegations of rape as ‘made up’ or ‘exaggerated’." 

Other key findings from the data included:

• 80% of adults agreed with the statement "Men may be too embarrassed to say they have been raped";
• 77% thought that sexual violence against women was common, compared with 39% who thought sexual violence against men was common;
• Younger people were more likely to think sexual violence against men and women was common than other age groups.

Ms Saidléar added: "Younger people are less likely to see shame as a barrier to disclosure which again speaks to a cultural openness to believe and support survivors.”

Previous findings from the CSO's survey had shown that half of 18-24 year olds had been sexually harassed in the previous 12 months.

On top of that, 50% of men who experienced sexual harassment in the previous 12 months did not disclose their experience to anyone.

The CSO noted its appreciation for the 500 or so respondents to the survey who indicated that they had not disclosed any of their sexual violence experience(s) to anyone, but yet they did engage with the survey.

The survey is proposed to be conducted again in 10 years’ time.