Irish Ministers Disown Rape Crisis Centre's 'Demeaning' Consent Ad Telling Grandparents to Ask Before Hugging

A short video begins with grandparents arriving to greet their grandchildren. One child leans in for a hug. The other does not. A narrator says that not everyone wants a hug, even from the people who love them, and adds that it may be awkward but is important. That was the scene in an ad from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, part of its We-Consent campaign, which went viral in Ireland in September and then drew criticism abroad.

The ad has now been taken down. Irish Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan of Fianna Fáil, whose department funded the campaign, said the video was removed after his officials spoke with the DRCC. According to the BBC, he said it does not represent the views of the Government.

O'Callaghan was blunt about why. He called the ad inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents. He said it was vital for people to understand consent in sexual relationships, but that this video did not advance that aim and in many ways was counterproductive.

The criticism came from other parties too. Sen. Gareth Scahill of Fine Gael called it a waste of public funds. He said public money had paid for an ad that was, at best, ill-thought-out and, at worst, offensive and potentially damaging to older people. He acknowledged that consent is a very serious issue and praised the work the Rape Crisis Centre and other agencies do for victims of rape and sexual violence, including children. But he said the publicly funded social media video was a million miles off the mark. He then asked, with some sarcasm, whether people would soon need to sign consent forms in the arrivals halls at Dublin, Shannon, Knock and Cork airports at Christmas before greeting relatives.

The DRCC gave a statement to the Irish broadcaster RTE. It described We-Consent as a long-term prevention campaign meant to raise awareness and practice of consent in Ireland. The centre said it made three videos built on the idea that boundaries should be respected from an early age, and that children should learn to respect the boundaries of others. It said it would remove the videos from its social media channels while it reflects on whether they are having the positive effect it wants.

The controversy also drew a political argument beyond Ireland. Inez Stepman, senior policy and legal analyst at Independent Women, spoke to Fox News Digital. She said institutions were lecturing grandparents about hugs instead of honestly addressing what she described as the doubling of rape rates over a decade, which she attributed to who the government lets into the country. She called the approach politically correct, said it lacked courage and honesty, and said the backlash was deserved. In 2024, the Irish Independent reported that reports of sexual assault in Ireland had nearly doubled between 2012 and 2022. Stepman's attribution of that rise to immigration policy is her own view; the source offers no data linking the two.

The wider We-Consent campaign continues, according to the DRCC, though the three videos are offline for now. What remains to be seen is whether the government reviews its funding for consent awareness work, and how the argument over how such messages are framed develops.