Ireland is becoming “desensitised” to violence against women, and particularly femicide, the Oireachtas was told on Thursday.Representatives from the University of Galway and Dundalk Institute of Technology appeared before the Oireachtas committee on higher education to detail their approach to sexual violence policies and procedures. Helen Maher, vice-president for equality, diversity and inclusion at the University of Galway, said “joined-up thinking” between State agencies “seems somewhat absent” when addressing sexual violence on higher-education campuses.Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Siobhan Molloy, who is charged with ending sexual violence and harassment on campus, said just 12 per cent of women “speak out and report” instances of sexual violence committed against them.“They feel they won’t be believed if they do,” she said. “They’re afraid of what will happen after it’s disclosed, that they’ll face shame and blame within their social groups.”Maher said the University of Galway has seen a 114 per cent increase in reports of sexual violence since 2024.Niamh Kavanagh, the university’s sexual violence and harassment prevention and response manager, said there was a distinction between a disclosure and a report.“A report is the initial stage of our formal process ... while a disclosure is telling someone within our university community,” she said.[ Photo of UCD student ‘nude, bruised and unconscious’ was shared with students and staff, TD tells DáilOpens in new window ]Once a report is received, the university initiates a welfare check and risk assessment with the complainant, before a “preliminary evaluation group” meets to discuss the then-anonymised report.“It’s anonymised so as not to be biased in any way, which was a concern from students that staff may be treated differently,” Kavanagh said. The university then hires an external investigation team through a normal procurement process, typically between three companies. The rise in reports is “one measure of success” of the anti-sexual violence policy introduced in 2024, Kavanagh said.An internal investigation is paused in the event of a Garda investigation being initiated, she said, adding “not all victim/survivors of sexual violence want to go through a criminal investigation”.“It’s important that the Department of Justice and gardaí are aware of the work we’re doing ... sometimes I’m not sure if they’re exactly clear on our role in this,” Kavanagh said.Clarissa DiSantis, an education and training lead at the University of Galway’s Active Consent programme, said: “Our community actually tolerates sexual violence really quite well.“It’s not enough to ask perpetrators ‘do you know the legal definition of consent?’ Because they do. They know. We have to create a society that says sexual violence isn’t tolerated here.“We know people don’t wake up one day and decide to rape someone. It’s the culmination of a structural process across society.”[ Rape, groping, and ‘revenge porn’: Sexual disclosures by UCD studentsOpens in new window ]