Some 75 reports of sexual harassment were lodged by staff and students in Irish colleges between 2015 and 2020.
Following the complaints, 10 students and staff members were either fined, suspended or expelled from their university.
The figures were released by Newstalk following a Freedom of Information request.
Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Noeline Blackwell told Newstalk that many cases go unreported.
“The figures cannot, in any way, be seen as indicative of the real extent of sexual harassment and abuse in colleges”, she said.
“They don’t surprise me, because it has been clear to us that actually there was no confidence within the systems in our universities in reporting sexual harassment and abuse. Therefore, the figures were small.”
It was also revealed that colleges across Ireland spent approximately €170,000 on legal costs pertaining to sexual harassment between 2015 and 2020.
Last month, the Sunday Independent reported that Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris was told by all Irish colleges that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are not used to deal with complaints of sexual harassment and bullying, after allegations that this regularly occurs in the sector.
Trinity Senator Lynn Ruane rejected the assertion that NDAs were not used, having compiled a report on the use of such agreements in colleges which included a number of testimonies from individuals working in the higher-education sector.
Ruane has co-sponsored a bill seeking to have the use of NDAs restricted in instances of workplace bullying or discrimination, but has said she believes they are particularly prevalent in universities and colleges. The bill is currently at committee stage.
University College Dublin introduced an anonymous reporting system in 2020. In its first year, the system logged 123 reports of sexual harassment. Of these 123 reports, 70 per cent were lodged by women.
In November, Trinity launched its own reporting tool for incidents of sexual harassment and other kinds of antisocial behaviour on campus.
The anonymous platform aims to encourage students to come forward with reports of antisocial behaviour such as bullying, cyberbullying, hate crimes, harassment and other issues in order to give students a safe space to have their voices heard, gather information that will help guide future policies, and foster a zero tolerance policy in Trinity.
According to the recent Report on the National Survey of Student Experiences of Sexual Violence and Harassment in Irish Higher Education, one in three female students and non-binary students have experienced someone trying to have sex with them without their consent.
Female and non-binary students were three times more likely to experience sexual coercion, such as being bribed to engage in sexual behaviour or implications that they would be better treated if they were sexually co-operative.
Some 42 per cent of respondents said they had received unsolicited sexual comments or pictures via social media or other electronic communication. Nearly a quarter said that they had been the subject of unwelcome sexual rumours spread online.
