{"id":329002,"date":"2026-03-04T20:32:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329002\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T20:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:32:07","slug":"large-crowd-attends-ucd-protest-after-nude-bruised-image-of-student-shared-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329002\/","title":{"rendered":"Large crowd attends UCD protest after \u2018nude, bruised\u2019 image of student shared \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than one thousand people attended a protest at University College Dublin<\/a> (UCD) on Wednesday after a \u201cnude, bruised\u201d intimate image of a female student was shared with staff and students.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in our UCD\u201d, \u201cwe stand with her\u201d and \u201cshame\u201d were chanted by those present, with these and other statements printed across many placards. <\/p>\n

The rally called for systemic change in how the university responds to sexual violence and gender-based harm.<\/p>\n

Michael Roche, president of the UCD Student\u2019s Union, told gatherers they were attending to show of support for victims of sexual assault, gender-based violence and misogyny.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all heard the horrific story of one of our students … We\u2019re here today to offer her solidarity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In mid-February, Socialist Party TD Ruth Coppinger told the D\u00e1il 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 \u201cnude, bruised and unconscious\u201d and was accompanied by \u201cfurther rape threats and further threats to use objects to violently rape\u201d her. <\/p>\n

It was circulated to staff and students through WhatsApp and email. The victim chose not to report the alleged rape to garda\u00ed, Coppinger said.<\/p>\n

In an email to students and staff on February 20th, Orla Feely, president of UCD, said that the university \u201ctakes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of bullying, harassment and sexual violence\u201d. <\/p>\n

The university reported the incident to garda\u00ed \u201cimmediately\u201d after becoming aware of it, she said, adding that the female student was being supported by the head of student advisory services.<\/p>\n

At the college campus on Wednesday, Coppinger criticised UCD\u2019s handling of the case, saying the victim\u2019s trauma began three years ago and she has since left her education place. <\/p>\n

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 \u201cperpetrator sits in the exam hall and not a bother on them\u201d. <\/p>\n

The student union\u2019s education officer Matt Mion said the female student at the centre of the case has been \u201cforced to navigate harm from institutions that claim to care\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are witnessing is not an isolated breakdown, but a predictable outcome of a system that prioritises procedure and policy over people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities speak fluidly about equality, dignity and inclusion … In this case, the response has exposed a deep contradiction between rhetoric and reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said this moment demanded \u201dmore than procedural responses\u201d and required \u201cstructural change\u201d and a \u201cleadership willing to prioritise people over liability\u201d. <\/p>\n

Rachel Morrogh, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said the protesters stood \u201cshoulder to shoulder\u201d with \u201cevery person who has experienced sexual violence and the harm that is caused by individuals, by institutions and systems that harm with impunity\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, UCD said it stood \u201cwith our students and our entire university community in support of the victims\u201d.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the university said it would engage closely with the students\u2019 union and took a victim-centred approach to tackle these issues and \u201cprotect out community to the best of our ability\u201d. <\/p>\n

The case of the student whose sexual assault and image-based sexual assault came to public attention recently was \u201cextremely distressing and complex\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe needs of the student have been at the centre of the university\u2019s response throughout. We care deeply about the trauma and anguish that she has experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

The university provided garda\u00ed with all information at the \u201cvery earliest stage of becoming aware of this criminal activity\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than one thousand people attended a protest at University College Dublin (UCD) on Wednesday after a \u201cnude,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,61,60,43,5762],"class_list":["post-329002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-ucd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}