More than one thousand people attended a protest at University College Dublin (UCD) on Wednesday after a “nude, bruised” intimate image of a female student was shared with staff and students.
“Not in our UCD”, “we stand with her” and “shame” were chanted by those present, with these and other statements printed across many placards.
The rally called for systemic change in how the university responds to sexual violence and gender-based harm.
Michael Roche, president of the UCD Student’s Union, told gatherers they were attending to show of support for victims of sexual assault, gender-based violence and misogyny.
READ MORE
“We’ve all heard the horrific story of one of our students ... We’re here today to offer her solidarity,” he said.
In mid-February, Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger told the Dáil the image shared of the young woman, a student at its school of medicine, was taken after she said she was raped in 2023. Coppinger said the image showed the victim “nude, bruised and unconscious” and was accompanied by “further rape threats and further threats to use objects to violently rape” her.
It was circulated to staff and students through WhatsApp and email. The victim chose not to report the alleged rape to gardaí, Coppinger said.
In an email to students and staff on February 20th, Orla Feely, president of UCD, said that the university “takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of bullying, harassment and sexual violence”.
The university reported the incident to gardaí “immediately” after becoming aware of it, she said, adding that the female student was being supported by the head of student advisory services.
At the college campus on Wednesday, Coppinger criticised UCD’s handling of the case, saying the victim’s trauma began three years ago and she has since left her education place.
She said she spoke to two others: a victim of sexual assault and a victim of harassment, who dropped out of their colleges after their experiences, while the “perpetrator sits in the exam hall and not a bother on them”.
The student union’s education officer Matt Mion said the female student at the centre of the case has been “forced to navigate harm from institutions that claim to care”.
“What we are witnessing is not an isolated breakdown, but a predictable outcome of a system that prioritises procedure and policy over people,” he said.
“Universities speak fluidly about equality, dignity and inclusion ... In this case, the response has exposed a deep contradiction between rhetoric and reality.”
He said this moment demanded ”more than procedural responses” and required “structural change” and a “leadership willing to prioritise people over liability”.
Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said the protesters stood “shoulder to shoulder” with “every person who has experienced sexual violence and the harm that is caused by individuals, by institutions and systems that harm with impunity”.
“Let us demand today not just a campus but a country where survivors are met with humanity and not hurdles, where survivors are supported to heal and not silenced by systems that block, delay, deny and defend,” she said.
In a statement, UCD said it stood “with our students and our entire university community in support of the victims”.
A spokesman for the university said it would engage closely with the students’ union and took a victim-centred approach to tackle these issues and “protect out community to the best of our ability”.
The case of the student whose sexual assault and image-based sexual assault came to public attention recently was “extremely distressing and complex”, he said.
“The needs of the student have been at the centre of the university’s response throughout. We care deeply about the trauma and anguish that she has experienced.”
The university provided gardaí with all information at the “very earliest stage of becoming aware of this criminal activity”, he said.
