Irish Observatory on Violence Against Women

Published: Friday, April 30, 2004

First Country Report

A national prevalence study on the extent of violence against women within intimate relationships in Ireland was carried out in 1995 that demonstrated that 18% of women had experienced domestic violence. This number doubled to 36% when women in doctors' surgeries in one Dublin area completed questionnaires.

National research on sexual violence in Ireland, the SAVI report3 found that 42% of women in Ireland had experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. 20.4% of women had been subjected to some form of contact sexual abuse as adults and over one quarter of these women were raped.

Both national studies indicate that violence against women in Ireland cuts across all social, cultural and economic backgrounds. The Making the Links Report found that there was only a 1% difference in the numbers of rural and urban women experiencing domestic violence (17% and 18% respectively) and that women from all social backgrounds experienced domestic violence. Similarly, the SAVI report found that there was no social class distinction between adult women who have been subjected to
rape and sexual assault.

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