A new campaign is seeking to end sexual harassment and violence on university campuses in Ireland.

The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) has called for higher education institutes to work together with women's organisations and others to tackle violence against women on campus.

The call was made at the final conference of the European project, Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE project).

The conference brought together more than 120 experts, students, higher education representatives and policy makers from across Europe in Dublin on Thursday.

It has also launched a 'It Stops Now' toolkit, which emphasises the need to invest in comprehensive training for staff and to ensure strong collaborations with external partners.

It also outlines the important role that student bodies have in reaching out to the student population on this issue.

Research has found that women aged 18-29 are most likely to experience sexual harassment and violence.

Orla O'Connor, director of the NWCI, said: "Many of these will be students which makes them less likely to report these crimes when compared with other groups.

"Sexual harassment and violence, offline and online, have a significant impact on their lives, yet many women experience an ongoing atmosphere of silence.

"While sexual harassment and violence are not unique to higher education institutes, they are uniquely placed in showing leadership on this issue.

"The #MeToo movement has encouraged more women to speak out but they need our support.

"Through the ESTHE project we have shown an effective way forward to ensure women are safe and can study free from violence and harassment."

Tara Brown is coordinator for the ESHTE project.

"Working with 15 higher education institutes from across Europe over the course of the project, we have seen a growing awareness that in order to have equality on campuses, we must tackle sexual harassment and violence.

"This cannot be achieved by higher education institutes in isolation but requires a multi-agency approach.

"This is why the collaborative approach that we adopted as part of the ESHTE project, bringing together women's organisations like NWCI, An Garda Síochána, sexual violence services, student bodies and Government departments, was so important in achieving positive change. "