Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs today (Tuesday 28th January) welcomed two reports by the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland on the impact of alcohol on young people’s understanding of consent to sexual activity.
Minister Fitzgerald was launching the RCNI reports ‘Young People, Alcohol and Sex: What’s Consent got to Do with It?’ at the European Commission Offices in Dublin this morning.
“The reports provide invaluable insights into some of the issues facing young people who are engaging in sexual activity, as well as the risks posed by alcohol consumption in circumstances where there is diminishing clarity around consent,” she said.
The Minister continued: “The issues that are addressed in these reports raise the question of our national approach to alcohol. The government and Minister Alex White are to bring forward a Public Health Bill that will address many of the issues around alcohol consumption in Ireland. We have to take very serious action.”
She noted figures showing that 1.5 million Irish drinkers consume in a harmful pattern; that alcohol is responsible on average for 88 deaths per month, and Irish people are drinking from a younger age and drinking more than ever before.
“The statistics show that between 2005 and 2008, 4,129 people aged under 30 years were discharged from hospital with chronic conditions of the type normally seen in older people, associated with alcohol.”
“The RCNI research questions whether we are giving our young people the skills to negotiate their adult relationships. Is the education system reaching out to them enough so that they can make informed choices about their sexual activity as opposed to uninformed or pressurised choices, which in some cases as the report examines, leads to sexual violence and rape.”
The reports found that there was uncertainty about the capacity to name sexual violence, based on lack of familiarity with accurate legal definitions of different forms of non-consenting sexual activity. It also found that expectations for sexual activity were structured through and facilitated by alcohol.
The Minister also said the report’s recommendations will have implications for the new National Children’s Framework document which will be published early this year.
The new Child and Family Agency for the first time will have responsibility for services provided by Rape Crisis Centres and the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland.
“A new National Coordinator will be appointed so that we can have a national approach to these issues and the best coordination available,” the Minister concluded.