The Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) 2020 was completed by 6,026 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during February March 2020. The survey was a collaboration between the Active* Consent programme at NUI Galway and the Union of Students in Ireland. Content for the SES was based on the ARC3 Campus Climate Survey, a tool designed from previously validated survey tools and measures by researchers and administrators in the U.S. (Swartout et al., 2019). Students and USI representatives worked with the research team to adapt the ARC3 to the Irish context, with the aim of providing the Irish HEI sector with the first comprehensive snapshot of positive and negative student sexual health experiences grounded by internationally recognised assessment strategies.
The SES included modules on separate topics related to sexual health and violence. This report describes the findings for three of the modules, on:
• Student experiences of sexual violence.
• Sexual harassment.
• College-based education, prevention, and support strategies.
Subsequent reports will describe student responses to the remaining SES modules, including:
• Sexual consent preparedness, behavioural intentions, and attitudes.
• Personal and perceived peer bystander intervention norms.
• Female and male rape myths.
• Dating violence experiences and peer attitudes to violence.