The Report: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls – Experiences and attitudes of 16 year olds in Northern Ireland in 2023
The ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls: Experiences and attitudes of 16 year olds in Northern Ireland in 2023’ report was published by The Executive Office today.
It tells a harrowing tale of gender abuse growing particularly towards young females who in their teenage years facing a range of challenging attitudes and behaviours.
The presents statistics relate to young people’s personal experiences of gender-based violence, who they would report gender-based violence to if they were a victim, barriers to reporting, attitudes about gender-based violence in Northern Ireland, and likelihood of intervening if they saw gender-based violence.
Some of the key findings include:
•xa0In the last year, a third of 16 year olds experienced online violence (32%), 26% experienced psychological violence, 19% experienced physical violence and 16% experienced sexual violence.
•xa0Female respondents experienced significantly higher levels of online violence, sexual violence and psychological violence in the last year; males experienced significantly higher levels of physical violence.
•xa016 year olds with disabilities experienced disproportionately more violent acts and behaviours in the last year than those who do not have disabilities.
•xa016 year olds who identify with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual experienced disproportionately more violent acts and behaviours in the last year than those who identify as heterosexual.
• 16 year olds are most likely to report a violent act or behaviour to a family member (61%).
•xa0Seven in ten 16 year olds felt that young people may be concerned that reporting violent acts or behaviours might make the situation worse (69%).
• 51% of young people agreed that violence against women and girls is common in Northern Ireland and 34% of young people agreed that violence against men and boys is also common in Northern Ireland.
• When compared with two years ago, 24% of respondents think that women are more likely now to become victims of gender-based violence; 16% think it is less likely.
• Three quarters of respondents said that it was likely that they would intervene if they saw someone being touched, hugged or kissed against their wishes (76%).
• Seven in ten female respondents reported that they would likely intervene if their peers were making a sexist joke (69%), significantly more than male respondents (30%).
• The report is available on the Statistics and Research Branch website at:xa0
