Females are the victims in 80% of sexual offences, CSO finds

In 2024, there was just one case of a female offender and a male victim and three cases of a female offender and a female victim

For sexual offences, females comprised eight out of 10 victims in 2025, higher than 2024 (73%) but similar to the previous two years. File picture

Males carried out almost all sexual offences in 2024, along with eight out of 10 homicide offences and a similar proportion of assault and harassment cases, official figures show.

Males made up the majority of victims in homicide and assault cases, but females accounted for eight out of 10 victims of sexual offences and seven out of 10 harassment victims.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that female offenders account for around one in six murders and a fifth of assaults and harassment cases in 2024.

The report shows that in the category of “homicide” — which includes murder/manslaughter and dangerous driving causing death — in 2025 males were the predominant victim (70%). That rose to 75% in cases of murder, with females accounting for 25% of victims in 2025, compared to 15% in 2024 and 30% in 2022.

For sexual offences, females comprised eight out of 10 victims in 2025, higher than 2024 (73%) but similar to the previous two years.

In relation to attempted murder or threats of murder, females were the victim in almost half of the cases (47%), similar to previous years. For assaults, females comprised 38% of victims, increasing substantially, to 66%, in cases of harassment.

The CSO said that harassment and related offences includes coercion or coercive control, harassment, incitement to hatred and recording or distributing intimate images.

The report shows that victims under the age of 18 accounted for around one in seven murder cases in 2025 — or five children. Juveniles accounted for 46% of victims in sexual offences (1,377 children) and 13% (3,119) of the assault category.

This latter category breaks down into: attempted murder/threats of murder, with juveniles accounting for 6% (159) of cases; assaults, with children comprising 13% (2,618) of cases; and harassment, with juveniles making up 16% (342).

In a fifth of detected sexual offences in 2024 there was a male victim and a male perpetrator. In eight out of 10 cases there was a female victim and a male offender. Figures show that in 2024 there were 72 cases of a male offender and a male victim, with 269 cases of a male offender and a female victim.

There was just one case of a female offender and a male victim and three cases of a female offender and a female victim (compared to nine cases in 2023).

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In relation to the assault category, four out of 10 cases involved male offender and victim. A quarter of cases involved a male offender and a female victim and in 15% of cases there was a female offender and a female victim.

In three out of 10 (29%) cases in the assault category, where females were the victims, the offender was a current or former intimate partner — compared to 3% of male victims. For both males and females, “other known” people accounted for half of the offenders. Strangers made up almost half of offenders for men, but only a fifth for female victims.

• Cormac O’Keeffe is security correspondent for the Irish Examiner