2% OF SEX ATTACKS ARE CARRIED OUT BY WOMEN
VICTIMS of female-perpetrated sexual assault in Ireland are mainly women, according to a new study.
The first research of its kind found female attackers were behind 95 cases reported to Ireland’s sexual assault treatment units from 2017 to 2022.
Use of weapons and restraints, along with incidents where there were multiple assailants, were features of some of the harrowing incidents.
The majority of the victims, 74%, identified as female while 24% were male and one victim was listed as “other”.
There were 5,416 attendances to the country’s six treatment units over the six years, with female attackers identified in almost 2% of cases. Weapons were used in 12% of cases and one in three (32%) victims were physically restrained, while one in four (26%) sexual assault victims were drugged. The study found there was a solo female perpetrator in 59 cases while there were multiple female perpetrators in three cases.
Medical files showed that 35% of females and 37% of males had genital injuries and 45% of females and 25% of males had extra-genital injuries.
The study stated: “For male victims forced insertive penile-vaginal intercourse was reported as part of the sexual assault. This may challenge societal beliefs that sexual arousal including maintaining an erection or ejaculation while being sexually assaulted is not possible.”
The findings revealed a “striking trend” in the high number of solo female-perpetrated assaults which contrasts starkly with previous research where it was much lower.
The study published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine found over two-thirds (67%) attended with the gardai while a further 10% attended to store forensic evidence.