I welcome Ms Katharine Bulbulia, chairperson; Ms Caroline Spillane, director; Ms Maeve O'Brien, policy officer; and Ms Orla McGowan, education and information officer, from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. The delegation knows about parliamentary privilege. We have it but its members do not. I am sorry about that.
Crisis Pregnancy Agency: Discussion.
Ms Katharine Bulbulia
I thank the Chairman. We are very pleased to be here. I thank the committee for the invitation. As everyone has been introduced, there is no need to do that. As I know the committee has been meeting for some time, we will press on with our submission.
The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is a planning and co-ordinating body, established to bring strategic focus to the issue of crisis pregnancy. The agency was established with all-party support by statutory instrument in 2001 and is funded by the Department of Health and Children. The primary function of the agency is to prepare and implement a strategy to address the issue of crisis pregnancy. The agency has three mandates. These are: a reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies by the provision of education, advice and contraceptive services; a reduction in the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by offering services and support which make other options more attractive; and the provision of counselling, medical and other health services for the purposes of providing support after crisis pregnancy and-or abortion.
Ms Caroline Spillane
As Ms Bulbulia has stated, the primary function of the agency is to develop and implement a national strategy with a singular focus on crisis pregnancy and related issues. We launched our second strategy in 2007 and that extends for the next five years. We also made a recommendation submission to the Oireachtas joint committee in January this year on which much of the presentation is based. The bulk of the evidence we will present is based on a few significant research reports. The first is the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships which we call ISSHR. It was launched in 2006 and it was conducted by us and the Department of Health and Children. It is a nationally representative sample because it involved 7,441 adults aged 18 to 64. The other study we will cite is the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study which is called ICCP and which we launched in 2004. Again, it is a nationally representative study which involved 3,317 respondents. We will also base part of the presentation on some qualitative research on concealed pregnancy, teenage sexuality in Ireland and a piece of research that we have done on how sexually active women think about fertility, sex and motherhood.
In regard to the submission we made earlier this year, the agency welcomes the Government's intention to provide for the ending of differential treatment of children from marital and non-marital families, whether that be by constitutional reform or by legislation. Similar to the views expressed by other organisations on this matter, we would see an important symbolic value in the decision to give constitutional protection to children's rights. It would highlight the value the State and society as a whole place on children and would place emphasis on protecting their rights.
Currently the Constitution confers rights only on the family based on marriage. We believe that children in all sorts of families should be protected. All children should be treated and protected equally, irrespective of the marital status of their parents. This view is primarily informed by the experience of women, their partners and their families of crisis pregnancy. Research shows that even now people still perceive a significant stigma associated with facing parenting alone. Even though one third of births in Ireland in 2006 were outside of marriage and 76% of women who experience crisis pregnancy go on to parent their child, qualitative evidence suggests women facing lone parenthood still report being concerned about being stigmatised as a single unmarried mother. It is clear from the research that the relationship of significant others in a woman's life and society in general plays a role in her decision making in crisis pregnancy situations. One piece of research which involved interviews with 88 women in abortion clinics in the UK found that 30 of those attributed stigma associated with being pregnant as a reason for them deciding to have the abortion. A further seven said it was the stigma that would attach to their families as a result of them being pregnant.
The agency is mandated to reduce the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion by providing supports and services which make other options, namely, parenting and adoption, more attractive. As discussed, stigma is an issue women report when they parent their babies but it is also a concern for women choosing adoption. The number of Irish women making the choice for adoption is reducing.
In 2006, as can be seen from the graph, 69 children were placed for non-family domestic adoptions compared with 1,005 in 1976. Only 1% of women experiencing a crisis pregnancy, according to the ICCP study, chose to place their children for adoption. Although attitudes to pregnancy outside marriage may have become more relaxed since the 1970s, cases with potentially tragic outcomes continue to occur for women who conceal their pregnancies. A recent study commissioned by the agency found that one in every 625 births in a Dublin maternity hospital was concealed and that one in every 403 births in a rural hospital was concealed. The research also found that women who conceal their pregnancies perceive a strong social stigma and condemnation attached to being pregnant outside of a relationship. Avoiding stigma related to pregnancy, including protecting their families from the stigma, was recorded in the social work and medical case notes of 20 of 51 women who had concealed their pregnancies. They also reported not being married as a strong factor in them not being able to accept their pregnancy or anticipating that others would react negatively to the pregnancy or the idea of them being pregnant. The agency is developing a set of guidelines for health professionals who encounter concealed pregnancies to try to address this issue within a maternity setting.
On the issue of adoption, the agency welcomes the provision that the Oireachtas committee may provide for all children to be adopted, regardless of the marital status of the parents. It defines a crisis pregnancy as a pregnancy which is neither planned nor desired by the woman concerned and which represents a personal crisis for her. It understands this definition has to be extended to cover pregnancies which develop into a crisis over time.
Crisis pregnancies affect men and women, regardless of their age and marital status. The ICCP study found that 28% of women with experience of pregnancy in their lifetime, aged between 18 and 45 years, had experienced a crisis pregnancy, while some 23% of men reported a similar experience. When asked about the type of relationship they were in at the time the pregnancy occurred, 41% said they were in a stable relationship but 24% said they were married or engaged. These are figures for females.
The agency is mandated to make available services and supports that make the option of adoption more attractive to women facing a crisis pregnancy. This is an option that is simply not legally available to married couples and only legally available to single women. It is important that women and men who are married and experience a crisis pregnancy should have the opportunity to place their child for adoption if that was a decision in the best interests of the child.
On the matter of absolute and strict liability, in respect of sexual offences, the agency understands the text set out in section 42(5) in Part 2 of the 2007 Bill would have serious implications for experimental sexual behaviour between young people of comparable age. As a result, the subject of age of consent becomes a focus. The law on the age of consent is central to the work of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. Today we are presenting data confirming that the reality of teenage sexual activity is that a substantial minority under the current age of consent are having sex. However, any resolution is a matter primarily for child protection. It is clearly beyond the remit of the agency to make a recommendation or judgment call on the matter. The agency does, however, have a remit to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies in Ireland and to provide services and supports for those experiencing a crisis pregnancy. Part of our work involves working with and addressing the sexual health and education needs of young people, some of whom are sexually active, sometimes below the age of consent. We have provided extra data on this issue. I will ask my colleague, Ms O'Brien, to give the committee that data now.
Ms Maeve O’Brien
The agency believes it is important that teenagers engaging in sexual activity are not criminalised as part of the committee's recommendations. In 2006 there were 209 births to females aged 16 years and under in Ireland. A breakdown is provided in the table. The agency would not support the prosecution of young couples experiencing a pregnancy who are seeking advice.
The findings used in the study are based on the experience of the younger adult cohort in the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships - the 18 to 24 year age category. The figures we use are based on recall because no nationally representative data are available on the sexual health, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of young people in Ireland under the age of 18 years. What we can ascertain from the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships is that the age of first sex is falling. The study found that the median age of first sexual intercourse in the 18 to 24 year age category was 17 years for both women and men. That tells us that most wait until they are 17 years to have first sex. However, 31% of young men and 22% of young women in the 18 to 24 year age category reported that they had had sexual intercourse before the age of 17 years.
The slide indicates the breakdown of the figures for young people who engaged in first sex before the age of 17 years. Under 15 and 16 years for young men, the figure adds up to 31%, and for females, 22%. In the next slide there is an illustration of how the median age of first sex has decreased for men and women across the age cohorts. The next slide illustrates the proportion having sex before the age of 17 years and how it has increased across the age cohorts.
The next slide illustrates the proportion having sex before 17 and how it has increased across the age cohorts. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey found that the average percentage of young people from 34 countries aged 15 and having had sexual intercourse is 24% for girls and 30% for boys. As Ireland has no comparable data, direct behavioural comparisons cannot be made because the sexual development of teenagers today may take place in a very different context from that of their counterparts who are in their 20s. The ISSHR provides our closest data. However, the average age in other countries might infer that the level of sexual activity among young people in Ireland is higher than the ISSHR data reports.
Biological factors have contributed to the falling age at first sex. The age of first period, or menarche, has been strongly associated with the age of first sex and this has been steadily falling in Ireland as in many other western countries. The mean age of first period among those aged 18 to 24 was 12.9 compared to 13.5 among those aged over 55. A slide in the presentation illustrates this. Early first sex is associated with levels of physical development, which itself interacts with the development of interest and desire for sexual intercourse.
On matters of consent to first sex, nationally representative data suggest that the majority of under age sexual activity in Ireland is among peers who are equally willing. Some 85% of women who reported having sex at age 15 or 16 reported equal willingness with their partners. Some 62.8% of women who reported having sex before age 15 reported equal willingness. Also, it is important to note that the majority who had sex before the age of 17 were in a steady relationship at the time and for the majority the partner was of a similar age, but there are exceptions to this, as we will illustrate.
In the next slide of the presentation the colour purple represents young people who would have been in a long-term or a steady relationship, or engaged or cohabiting at the time of their first sex. The proportion increases with age - 16, 17 and 18. A significant number were in a relationship at the time.
The next slide of the presentation shows the age breakdown of men and the age difference with partner at the time of first sex. The majority of men would have been within the same age category - within one to two years. This is shown in the third column and the percentage is in the high 80s. However, in the next slide which shows the figures for females, even though a woman's first sexual partner would have been of similar age, the corresponding percentage reduces somewhat and there is an issue around this.
Early sexual intercourse has been associated with poorer sexual health outcomes and this is a concern for the agency and the wider population. Lower socio-economic status and low educational attainment have been linked with, but are not causal factors of, early first sex. The ISSHR study found that those who had sex before 17 were significantly less likely to have used contraception at first intercourse, more likely to experience crisis pregnancy later in life, more likely to report having sexually transmitted infections and more likely to regret that sex happened at that point. The next slide shows levels of regret. For young females, the levels of regret were higher when they were recalling the timing of their first sexual intercourse.
For those who are not ready for sex, expectations around sexual behaviour can place considerable social pressures on young people to engage in sexual activity when they may not be ready for the experience. Approximately 11% of women stated that their partner had been more willing to have sex for the first time, compared to 4% of men. The ISSHR found that, of the total sample between the ages of 18 to 29, 30 out of 1,356 women - 0.8% - and five out of 991 men - 0.2% - reported having been forced into first intercourse. Hyde, in 2007, reported that young men and women experienced different kinds of pressure to have sex but it is more usual for young women to experience verbal pressure from males enticing them to perform sexual acts.
The agency is supportive of child protection measures to prevent the exploitation of young people. It is also cognisant of the fact that abuse and exploitation can take place among people of comparable age who can experience pressure to perform sexual acts.
Ms Caroline Spillane
From that research, we are aware that finding a balance between protecting children from abuse and not penalising teenagers engaged in consensual sexual experimentation is extremely difficult. Whether the committee, in its wisdom, decides to recommend a constitutional amendment or the introduction of legislation, a legal regime built on the principle of strict liability should be structured such that experimental sexual behaviour between children of comparable age would be excluded from a newly configured offence of statutory rape.
Regardless of the wording that will be agreed in respect of strict liability and the age of consent, the agency requests that the committee make recommendations relating to the feasibility of developing guidelines for practitioners and health professionals working with young people who are or are likely to be sexually active. The introduction of such guidelines is critical to the provision of effective youth services in primary care, community and secondary health settings. It is also important in the context of professionals working in educational and youth work settings because it will allow clear roles and responsibilities to be outlined.
If giving constitutional protection to children's rights means that policies relating to their lives and childhood will be prioritised, that would be a positive development from the agency's point of view. Educational disadvantage and its impact on the set of health indicators is an important policy issue. There is a need to reinforce the position in this regard by making stronger constitutional provision for children. Rather than having a situation where children of comparable age would be criminalised, the agency supports the implementation of preventative programmes.
The Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships refers to international research which suggests that skills-based sex education programmes aimed at developing competence, self-esteem and confidence can have the dual effect of delaying the age of sexual debut and reducing the level of adverse outcomes. The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre report concludes that improving access to contraception, providing quality sex education and building incentives to avoid early parenthood are the main characteristics of countries with lower rates of teenage pregnancy.
A knowledge of relationships and sex for adolescents is central to the agency's work and is one of its key strategic priorities. The agency funds a range of initiatives throughout the country and is also involved in educational activities and activities designed to try to encourage parents to become central to educating young people about sexual health and relationships.
The agency has begun the development of a two-year integrated campaign aimed at delaying the early onset of sexual activity in adolescents. This campaign will seek to target 14 and 15 year old boys and girls with a strong, clear message that will encourage them to delay first sex until they are at least 17. It will also take account of the pressures on young people to fit in with their social groups; the interpersonal pressures boys and girls experience; and the emotional and physical changes associated with puberty. In addition, there will be a strong focus on developing high levels of self-esteem and positive aspirations.
As stated, one aspect of the agency's activities involves supporting service providers working with young people who are sexually active and who are sometimes below the age of consent. Service providers and practitioners report feeling vulnerable if they are providing contraception or crisis pregnancy counselling services for sexually active girls who are under the legal age of consent for sexual intercourse. The issue becomes more complex if a girl is under 16, which is the age of consent for medical treatment. As the research data confirms, the reality of teen sexuality shows that a substantial minority of teenagers under the age of consent are having sex. There is a duty of care to ensure that these young people are protected and receive appropriate support.
The agency would like to see the emergence of a definitive and workable legal position in respect of the age of consent. It is beyond our remit to take a decision or make recommendations on this issue. Regardless of the nature of the important decision that will be made in respect of the age of consent, however, the agency requests that this should be consistent with the age of consent for medical treatment and the legal age for marriage and that it should be gender neutral. The agency would support the widespread publicisation of any decision taken in respect of this matter.
I thank our guests for their presentation, which was extremely interesting. Senator Corrigan has asked to speak. She will be followed by Deputy Shatter and Senator Alex White.
The joint committee was not aware of the delay first sex campaign. How does the agency propose to publicise the campaign or implement its objective?
Ms Orla McGowan
The campaign is in development. We are consulting people who work in health promotion and in the Department of Education and Science and other organisations who can advise us on how best to approach the campaign. We have a range of objectives which we have listed for members of the committee. We are consulting on these. We hope to come up with a clear message for 14 and 15 year old boys and girls which will encourage them to delay sex until they are 17. We will pursue that objective when we have completed our consultation.
It sounds very interesting. When the Crisis Pregnancy Agency was established it suffered some animosity. Is that still evident?
Ms Katharine Bulbulia
No. It is safe to say we have established good working relationships across the board with all the stakeholders in this area. Interestingly, we are in discussion with the Department of Education and Science and are on the point of signing a memorandum of understanding with it. We work hand in glove with the Department on the delivery of the relationships and sexuality education, RSE, and social, personal and health education, SPHE, programmes in schools. Our material is considered very useful.
I am glad to know that.
I thank the agency for the very interesting presentation. There is much information in it and it is good that so much of it is evidence-based. The presentation was clear, focused and to the point. The evidence in the presentation confirms many of our concerns regarding the perils of young people engaging in sexual activity at a very young age. This is especially useful. We have referred to this matter at a number of meetings and we are pleased to see our concerns are supported by evidence.
Some of the figures quoted in the presentation could be used in the delay first sex campaign. They show that, contrary to common beliefs, very few people aged between 12 and 15 are engaging in sexual activity. Given the role of peer pressure, it could be reassuring and comforting for young people to be presented with facts showing that, contrary to what they are told, everyone is not doing it, so to speak. These statistics could give security and reassurance. The campaign looks very impressive and it could be useful to incorporate this evidence in it.
The question of parents voluntarily placing a child for adoption is one of the issues before the committee. Has the agency come across cases of married couples facing a crisis pregnancy who would avail of an opportunity, if it were permitted, to place their child for adoption? How common is this situation? The presentation referred to the different status accorded to children whose parents are married compared to those whose parents are not. The agency stated in its presentation that it is important to address this issue and made the point that there is a stigma attached to parents. Has the delegation any comment about the children and the experience of children who are treated differently under the Constitution? This is the issue we must consider. There are no proposals before this committee to alter the status of families. As the Constitution differentiates between children of married parents and those whose parents are not married, the proposal before us is specifically aimed at the children. The proposal is that this distinction should be removed from the Constitution so that all children are given similar status. I would appreciate hearing any comments the delegation has on this matter.
We will deal with all the questions together and sequentially.
I thank the agency for its interesting and well presented presentation. I have two or three questions arising from the presentation.
I refer to the campaign to encourage youngsters to delay having sex for the first time until the age of 17. Was this age chosen because the current age of consent is 17 or was it chosen because research has shown that a reasonable number of people who engage in sexual intercourse while under age come to regret it in later years or have difficulties in later years as a result? Which was the dominating factor?
I refer to the issues arising from peer pressure. One of the issues this committee must consider is whether a regime of absolute liability should be introduced. This has been described in a tabloid manner as an absolute zone of protection for children, whether we should create a situation where any person who engages in intercourse with someone under 15 years of age, for example, has absolute liability and is guilty of a criminal offence. This is an issue the committee has been considering and there are differences of opinion about age and whether there should be absolute liability at all and it is only fair to say that. However, all the presentations made to us have been unanimous in stating that one of the things to ensure does not happen is that we do not criminalise teenagers or children of proximate age who are sexually experimenting. Has the agency a view in this area?
I can give an example because I think we can debate the age issue. If a law was enacted on the basis that one has absolute liability for sexual intercourse with a person under 15 years but in the case of children of proximate age there could be a provision to allow for some form of impunity, that prosecutions would not be brought or the Director of Public Prosecutions would have a discretion not to bring a prosecution or there could be a specific statute which would provide that where the parties were within a two or three year proximity of age, it would not be a criminal offence unless coercion was involved. Has the agency a view on such a proposition? Would having a form of absolute liability law reinstated - such as we had from 1935 to 2006 - with a protection against children of proximate age sexually experimenting being criminally prosecuted, relieve children of some of the peer pressures? Would this help to feed into the perception that under-age sex is something that should not happen?
We all know with the under 17 age group, and the statistics prove this, that children are still sexually experimenting. That is not new today. It was happening 20, 30 and 40 years ago. It is not a great revelation. There was a naive view in Irish society that if there was a fixed age of consent, everyone would comply with it, but of course that is not correct. However, the agency's survey indicates that the majority of those engaging in sexual intercourse are 17 and over. That seems to be the overall perception. If we lower the age of consent to 16 or 15, from the agency's perspective does that not just in some way simply lift a prohibition but make it look as if society either is encouraging 15 and 16 year olds to engage in sexual intercourse or is removing something that currently assists some young people to resist peer pressure?
I also thank the agency for the presentation. I agree with what Senator Corrigan said about the importance of having evidence-based material before us because so much of this - as Deputy Shatter has touched on - is opinion and speculative. We are trying to get the right answers, and sometimes we find it difficult to do so. This report and the presentation the agency has given today is very helpful.
I congratulate the agency also on its recently reported successes in the area of its work in terms of the reduction in the number of Irish women going abroad to have abortions. This might be controversial at the committee but it reminds us that constitutional change of itself does not, and very often cannot, deal with complex social problems. The very success of the agency in this area where we had constitutional change seems to point to the importance of reflecting on whether changing the Constitution should be the principal way of addressing the sensitive issues before this committee. This is also indicated in the study, which is very valuable.
I pose a question which I am not sure can be answered. The agency has given evidence and shown members figures for the age of first sex and explored questions such as later regret for having had sex too soon in one's life. The material is available in respect of the falling age of first sex. The report does not indicate, but is there anything we might look at that could inform us about the level of emotional maturity and whether that has changed at the same time as the age of first sex? I appreciate the agency will not be able to refer me to chapter and verse in a specific book. We hear much about the early sexualisation of young girls in particular, and the whole notion of the statutory rape regime is, to some extent at least, predicated upon the premise that the issue of consent is not an appropriate way to deal with child sex. In other words, there is an inability to give real consent; therefore we do not look at consent as being part of the question we must ask because we argue there is not a level of emotional maturity for a young girl to give consent. It is almost predicated on the view that she may think she is giving consent, but in reality in our view it is not real consent.
That is the historical justification, at least in part, for a statutory rape regime. If that is the case, does the agency have any sense or even hunch whether there is a falling age of emotional maturity affecting the ability to make decisions such as this, or is it possible even to explore that?
I join colleagues in thanking the witnesses for their presentation. There have been many presentations on these topics, but this has been one of the most illuminating and it will be very useful to us in our work. We can learn a great deal from what has been said.
It is revealing to learn from the survey that just 8% of girls and 15% of boys under the age of 16 were sexually active. A comment was made about cultural assumptions, and there is a message in that for this committee that we may have been labouring under the assumption that a far greater cohort of the population was sexually active than indicated by the findings. The agency's research also states that in the cohort of people between 18 and 29, the children of the Celtic tiger, who are probably the most open-minded in society, 59% of females surveyed regretted being sexually active under the age of 16.
Notwithstanding that constitutional change will not affect what happens in society, this challenges us because we are in a leadership role. Whether it be through legislative or constitutional issues, we must not be afraid to provide leadership for people.
Married couples cannot voluntarily place a child for adoption. Does the Crisis Pregnancy Agency have much experience of crisis pregnancies among married couples - for example, as a result of the wife becoming pregnant due to some brief, extra marital liaison - in which the mother chooses abortion because adoption is not an alternative? Would an adoption alternative for couples caught in that situation further reduce the levels of abortion?
Ms Caroline Spillane
There are common themes to many of these questions which I will try to answer. As the agency does not provide adoption services directly for the public, what we know about the experience of people in crisis pregnancy has been learned through research and through information provided for us by the service providers we fund. The number of people placing children for adoption has reduced dramatically in recent years and is really low at this stage. Much of that is due to the perception of adoption. We are quite careful when we talk about adoption. We never say that we promote adoption, rather that we present the option of adoption to people. Our service providers are very clear on saying that.
We do not know how many people might be impacted by this. We have heard anecdotally through service providers that they have come across married couples who simply cannot afford to have another child, who do not want an abortion, and who think about adoption rather than foster care or a similar outcome. We only have anecdotal evidence and the numbers involved would be low, but it is possible.
Has it arisen?
Ms Caroline Spillane
Yes. Anecdotally, I have learned from service providers that it has arisen. As we know from that study that crisis pregnancies occur in marriage, adoption should be available to people in those circumstances.
We do not have any evidence of adoptions being related to a crisis in marriage or extra-marital activities. Crisis pregnancies within relationships generally arise in the context of a foetal abnormality, the dissolution of the relationship, financial difficulties or where the couple perceived their child-rearing days to be over and have other commitments. These are some of the factors we have encountered. However, as we are not service providers, we do not have a great deal of information on this.
Several members asked about the significance of peer influence in terms of efforts to encourage adolescents to delay having first sex. Research suggests peer influence, rather than peer pressure, is a significant factor in young people's decisions regarding sexual activity. For females, this peer influence comes from other females and also from the peer group within which they operate. In a broader context, influences on young people derive from traditional versions of masculinity and femininity. For young boys, for example, the version of masculinity to which they aspire generally involves being seen to want to have sex, to know about various sexual activities and to not be a virgin. For women, the traditional concept of femininity dictates that they be seen to be submissive. The research indicates there are consequences for young girls who do not take that traditional role, with some experiencing damage to their reputation and labelling.
The dynamic between boys and girls is strongly influenced by the desire to act in the manner deemed acceptable by their particular peer group. Several members referred to the common perception that large numbers of teenagers are sexually active. It is important that we communicate to young people the reality that the vast majority of their peers under 17 years of age are not sexually active. In the early teenage years, one has a licence not to be sexually active nor even to be interested in sex. Many different influences come to bear on young people. I will ask my colleagues to build on this because it is a complex issue.
Ms Orla McGowan
In addition to peer influences, young women experience a great deal of verbal pressure from young men. In a situation, for example, where a young woman begins a relationship with a young man who has been previously sexually active, she will feel under pressure to conform to that. With young men, it is far more a case of group conformity where they feel they must be one of the lads. Other factors associated with early sex include issues of self-esteem, self-knowledge and having aspirations. Another issue is family supervision. The research indicates that an open and communicative relationship between parents and children correlates with a later age of first sex. That is why we have been doing much work in this area.
Will the delegates respond to my question regarding the differences as between children of marital relationships and those of non-marital relationships?
Ms Caroline Spillane
I wish to make some additional points. Senator Corrigan asked whether the age of consent is a significant influence on the delaying or otherwise of first sex. We discussed this issue at the agency earlier and may refer to a broad consultation with young people that took place in which Ms Orla McGowan was a participant. One point to emerge from it was that the matter of naming an age was of little consequence to young people. Deputy Shatter asked the reason the agency had decided on the age of 17 years. It did so for a couple of reasons. First, there is evidence that there can be an emotional impact from the level of regret. Moreover, there also are negative sexual health outcomes which it is known increase below the age of 17 years.
Senator Alex White also asked about the age of first sex and whether levels of emotional maturity had increased. We conducted a study with Dr. Jo Murphy-Lawless and one point she made which I considered to be interesting was that while there had been openness regarding sex through the media, this had not been fully displayed throughout Irish society. Moreover, there are urban and rural differences. While one might believe everyone is open in this regard, not everyone feels that way. In Dr. Murphy-Lawless's study which examined the experience of sexual activity among young women she noted that women's roles had transformed and that they had more choices. However, in some ways they are constrained by social class and some do not perceive the changes to be all that positive. A link can be made between this point and some of the influences brought to bear on young males and young females in particular. In addition, the sexual behaviour of young Irish adults has converged with that of young adults in other countries. Moreover, there has been a convergence of male and female sexual behaviour in Ireland. Such changes are taking place.
While I am sorry to be frustrating on this point, because the Crisis Pregnancy Agency is not a service provider, it does not have direct evidence of whether children are being stigmatised as a result of a crisis pregnancy. In the main, a woman who has a crisis pregnancy and goes on to parent has solved the crisis; after the birth of the child the crisis is in the past. Many service providers report that women want to go on to be parents. The stigma does not necessarily attach to the child because the crisis has been solved. However, it may be different for lone parents who may not have perceived the pregnancy as being a crisis but might have difficulties or issues compounded by other factors.
I thank the chairperson, Ms Katharine Bulbulia, Ms Caroline Spillane, Ms Maeve O'Brien and Ms Orla McGowan for their frank presentation. I was surprised by two of their statements. First, other members and I were of the opinion that there was an abundance of young-age sex in Ireland. Second, I did not know about the delay first sex campaign. I wish the delegates good luck with it, Ms McGowan in particular, as she will be dealing with it. I thank them for taking the time to appear before the joint committee.
Ms Katharine Bulbulia
On behalf of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, I thank the Chairman and her colleagues for this useful engagement. We hope to have added to the information store they need to make their decisions.
I thank Ms Bulbulia.
The joint committee adjourned at 7.05 p.m. sine die.