Thousands show up to protest at UCD after rape victim forced to stop studying

Thousands of students came together to show support for a girl who was raped and forced by UCD to stop her studies.

The young woman was forced to drop out of her medicine course after being raped and falling pregnant, yet her rapist was allowed to continue studying.

In 2023, a medical student was raped and became pregnant.

Images of the girl "nude, bruised, and unconscious" after the rape were then shared by her perpetrator, according to The Journal.

She requested that the university allow her to sit her exams at a later date, as she had terminated the pregnancy that had resulted from being raped, but they refused and tried to make her drop back a year. 

This would mean she would be in the same classes as the rapist, who was also a medical student.

READ NEXT: UCD block student who was raped from finishing medical studies, but rapist was allowed to continue

Around 4,000 students showed up to the 'Not Our UCD' rally on Wednesday evening, according to the Irish Examiner.

The protest was organised by the Student's Union in partnership with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC).

The Union told the Irish Examiner the rally was not focused on "one incident alone," but on what it describes as "deeper issues in institutional response from classroom practices to senior decision-making structures." 

"When a student discloses sexual violence, the response must be trauma‑informed, student‑centred and grounded in clear, accessible processes," Chief Executive of DRCC, Rachel Morrogh, said.

The Students' Union also wrote a letter to UCD and the School of Medicine demanding that an "open correspondence apology" be sent to the victim.

UCD has said that no internal investigation has been carried out into the image-based abuse as the matter has been referred to An Garda Síochána.