Children as young as 12 in Cork have been sexually assaulted by other children

Cork’s Sexual Assault Treatment Unit also said young male LGBT+ victims are slow to come forward to report sexual violence because of stigma

Cork’s Sexual Assault Treatment Unit said some children are making disclosures that they have been raped by other children.

Children as young as 12 years old are reporting sexual assault by peers while young male LGBT+ victims are slow to come forward to report sexual violence because of stigma, according to Cork’s Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) at the South Infirmary Victoria Hospital.

The unit said some children are making disclosures that they have been raped by other children.

Margo Noonan, nurse lead at the unit, told the Irish Examiner that peer-on-peer sexual violence is typically targeted at females by males, but there are occasionally reports of incidents by males against other males.

She said there remains a stigma among young men from the LGBT+ community, which becomes more of an issue if they are victims of sexual assault.

Ms Noonan said: "The male population, especially in the LGBTQ community, is an extremely vulnerable population — particularly the younger men — from 14 upwards. 

"A lot of young men who may have not come out and disclosed their sexuality and are experimenting, are very vulnerable because they end up with a stigma of being gay but they also have the stigma of a sexual assault. 

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"And if it happened in an area known for LGBTQ+, straightaway they are asked what were they doing there.”

She also points out the fear of being found out means they are inadvertently protecting their abuser as they are reticent to come forward.

Last month, the Alders Unit at the Children’s Health Ireland Connolly Hospital revealed that the number of peer-on-peer sexual assault cases referred to it surged by almost 40% in just one year.

The Cork SATU will mark its 25th anniversary with a lunch at the Kingsley Hotel in Cork City on June 19. Among the keynote speakers will be Beyond Surviving founder and survivor Ciara Mangan.