Irish Examiner View: Harris must follow up bold words with action

A shocking new report has detailed the prevalence of sexual violence in Irish colleges. Higher education minister Simon Harris says he is determined to tackle it.

'I don’t care if they came home with you. Sex without consent is assault and it is a crime,' said higher education minister Simon Harris. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Should we tell the young women due to start college this autumn that one in three of them is likely to be raped? Or that two-thirds of their fellow female students will experience sexual harassment during their time at university?

Those stark statistics, revealed in the first nationwide survey of its kind last month, are not what students might expect to hear at Freshers’ Week — although they should, because the opening week of college, along with Rag Week, have been identified as times when sexual assaults and rape peak.