Teenage boys frequently bully their girlfriends into taking part in unwanted sexual activities, according to a study of 247 third-level students attending Dublin Institute of Technology.
The study suggests that a culture of sexual aggression towards teenage girls exists among their male peers.
Almost one third of the 176 female respondents reported an unwanted sexual experience before the age of 16, compared to 5.6 per cent of the 71 male respondents. These experiences ranged from kissing and fondling to intercourse, masturbation, oral sex, anal intercourse and flashing.
The author of the study, Dr Kevin Lalor of DIT's school of social sciences, told delegates at the Psychological Society of Ireland's annual conference in Kilkenny, that a large proportion of the respondents who had unwanted sexual experiences had such experiences only once. The perpetrators were likely to be younger than 21.
In 80 per cent of the reported incidences, the child knew the perpetrator. The largest group of perpetrators, apart from strangers, was that of relatives. There were no fathers or clergy reported among the 78 perpetrators.
Of the young women who reported abuse, 35 per cent had experiences in which boyfriends forced sex on them despite requests to stop. Only 3 per cent of males reported similar experiences.
Almost one-fifth of the females reported disturbing effects. Twelve respondents reported experiencing multiple effects.
"It is hoped that the newly introduced education programmes at both primary and secondary level will be important in empowering young people to recognise what is and what is not exploitative behaviour. Young girls need better refusal skills," said Dr Lalor.