Irish women being forced into sex with strangers by their partners

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre say more people are reporting coercive behaviour forcing them into unwanted group sex.

Swinging usually involves couples meeting up and exchanging partners for sex, but can also involve just one half of a couple having sexual encounters while their partner watches.

Many people take part fully consensually.

It is usually organised through websites and online message boards.

Now, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) says more people are reporting they have been forced into having sex with people they didn't want to by their partners and being watched.

DRCC spokesperson Edie Cunningham says the centre is seeing more coercion in these instances.

"We do see a lot of abuse within relationships because most likely the perpetrator is known to them. So whether that is a partner, a family member, a friend, we do see that quite a lot," Cunningham told JOE.

"Forced swinging is more to do with like one partner usually coercing another, whether it's through pressure, threatening, or just guilting them into either group sex or swinging.

"We do see that come up, and particularly when we're onboarding people into the DRCC, it is mentioned, and it's not one of the things that would be the largest phenomenon, but it is part of a much wider pattern of the aforementioned coercion."

At least three people have been convicted in the UK for crimes related to forced swinging.

The DRCC say more awareness must be raised about how consent can be rescinded at any time, and coerced consent, is not consent.

"Particularly in relationships ... I think a lot of people do harbour a lot of shame and guilt," Cunningham added.

"A lot of people think; 'Oh, I said yes to this thing one time, so if I say no to it again, that could be used against me'.

"Within the Irish legal system, we do have a law that says that if you change your mind, consent can be withdrawn."

Since 2023, one swinging website has been mentioned in at least 329 police reports across the UK - according to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the BBC - including in allegations of rape, sexual offences, coercive control, harassment, blackmail, stalking, assault and possession of extreme pornography. 

The forces that responded also recorded 26 people as having been charged or summonsed in cases where one swinging site had been mentioned, with 23 cases ongoing.

No such data exists for Ireland.