More than one in five young people aged 18 to 21 report having suffered acts of rape, according to a new survey

From sexual intercourse accepted "to please" to the act imposed under duress or by means of alcohol or drugs, more than one in five young people aged 18 to 21 report having suffered acts amounting to rape, according to an unprecedented national survey published Monday. 2,269 young people aged 18 to 21 were invited, through an anonymous questionnaire, to describe situations they have experienced during their lives, as part of the “Vavisa” survey (Emotional Life and Sexual Violence in Adolescence), commissioned by the association “Against violence against minors” (CVM).

These situations were then “qualified as violence at the time of analysis, given the circumstances reported”, explain the authors of the study supported by the General Directorate of Social Cohesion (DGCS), in collaboration with Ipsos BVA, Sorbonne University, Inserm and AP-HP. Among the young people questioned, 21.9% reported acts of oral, vaginal and anal penetration, in circumstances categorized by the authors as qualifying as rape.

Having accepted to “please the other”

More broadly, 37.1% of 18-21 year olds say they have already had a sexual act, whatever its nature, without wanting to. Among the circumstances most frequently mentioned by respondents were the fact of having accepted to “please the other person”, of “not being able to move” (34.5%), of having been “threatened, assaulted or held by force” (21.8%) or of having been “under the influence of alcohol or drugs” (20.6%).

In addition to rape, the study explored in an unprecedented way a wide range of violence, from unwanted exposure to pornographic content to incest, including cyberviolence and sexual exploitation. Nearly two thirds of 18-21 year olds (63%) say they have experienced an act of sexual violence at least once during their life. Among them, 9% described a first act of an incestuous nature, naming a member of their family, most often a cousin, as the perpetrator.

24% say they know someone who has been exploited

Furthermore, the majority of the sample (56%) said they did not want their first exposure to pornography and almost half (46%) said they had received unsolicited sexual content. Less reported but “not marginal”, according to the survey, sexual exploitation concerns 5.3% of respondents, who say they have received compensation in exchange for a physical act or sexual content online. More surprisingly, 17% could consider it and 24% say they know someone who has been exploited.

Young people with more difficult backgrounds, monitored by Child Welfare or Youth Judicial Protection, are also more affected: 80% and 87% respectively say they have suffered at least one sexual violence, according to the study. The results are based on the responses of 1,843 young people aged 18 to 21 from a panel constituted by the Ipsos BVA institute and 426 others recruited via a link opened by the association “Against violence against minors” (CVM).