The medical student who was victim of image-based sexual assault has spoken to the University Observer to respond to a university-wide email sent by UCD President Orla Feely. UCDSU have also issued a list of nine demands to be met by UCD in relation to the situation.

By Adam Schmitz & Orla Mahon | Feb 20 2026

Student who was victim of image-based sexual assault issues response to university-wide letter sent by President Orla Feely 

The student who was the victim of image-based sexual assault has issued a response to a university-wide email send by UCD President Orla Feely, claiming that effectively her only support has come from UCDSU, rather than the university itself.

Speaking to the University Observer, she said “I am deeply grateful for the support of UCD Students’ Union in this matter. The Union has been effectively my only source of support since this horrific experience began within UCD. I was not consulted by UCD regarding the contents of their email prior to its circulation to staff and students across the University”.

“I am deeply grateful for the support of UCD Students’ Union in this matter. The Union has been effectively my only source of support since this horrific experience began within UCD. I was not consulted by UCD regarding the contents of their email prior to its circulation to staff and students across the University”.

On Tuesday of last week, February 10th, Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger presented a speech in the Dáil, stating that UCD had “[failed] to safeguard against image based sexual assault”. The image of the student, which was taken after she had raped, was sent into a UCD Medicine group chat with over 300 students on multiple occassions, as well as to a number of UCD staff email addresses.  

UCDSU Publishes List of Demands to UCD 

UCDSU has published a list of demands to University College Dublin regarding UCD and the School of Medicine's response to image-based sexual abuse. 

Posted via UCDSU’s Instagram page at 4pm this evening, Friday 20th of February, the Students’ Union shared a list of demands regarding the University’s handling of the case. The list of demands was submitted by UCDSU and cosigned by a number of class representatives from different School of Medicine cohorts.

The statement begins, “On behalf of UCDSU, Education Officer Matt Mion said "We have been working alongside this student for a number of years and have been deeply disappointed by UCD's response. We hope this story coming to light will make UCD finally do what is right for this student and others."”

“On the night of Thursday the 19th of February UCDSU sent an email to UCD Management and UCD School of Medicine issuing a series of next steps to rectify the horrific abuse a student of the University has suffered with a deadline of Wednesday the 25th 09:00am for a response.”

“On the night of Thursday the 19th of February UCDSU sent an email to UCD Management and UCD School of Medicine issuing a series of next steps to rectify the horrific abuse a student of the University has suffered with a deadline of Wednesday the 25th 09:00am for a response.”

The statement continues, “We want to be absolutely clear: UCD Students' Union stands firmly and unequivocally with the student affected. Sexual violence, misogyny, harassment, and the image are abhorrent, and we are proud of our history as a Union standing against that. Survivors deserve dignity, protection, accountability, and compassion.”

The list of demands are as follows:

1.  We request that UCD and the SoM issue an open-correspondence apology to the victim and the affected student cohort in UEM5 / GEM3 regarding its lack of a robust and public condemnation of the infiltration of the class WhatsApp group with IBSA, as well as its lack of public solidarity with the affected student in the immediate aftermath of the IBSA [image-based sexual abuse].
2. We request that UCD and the SoM make a public commitment to collaborating with the UCD Students’ Union on the recently commenced review of UCD’s Dignity and Respect policies from a victim-centred perspective as a principle of this reviewed policy, and in particular the implementation of precautionary measures for alleged criminal offences.
3. We request that UCD and the SoM detail what steps have been, and will be, taken with regard to the provision of the affected student cohort with a pastoral point of contact as well as access to dedicated student counselling services for those who wish to avail of them.
4. We request that President Feely, Professor Scott, Professor Last, Mr Paul Blackmore and Professor Mallon meet with the IBSA victim alongside the affected cohort class representatives and the SU representatives.
5. We request UCD and the SoM to publish a university-wide response plan to IBSA detailing victim-centred communication and support procedures.
6. We request UCD and the SoM to commit, by the morning of the 25th of February 2026, to conducting and completing a review of the steps it has taken to prevent IBSA and sexual misconduct not less than one year from the date of receipt of this email and to publish the outcome of such a review university-wide.
7. We request UCD and the SoM to cultivate a culture of zero-tolerance toward IBSA and sexual violence by mandating staff to include signature-block indication of their annual completion of bystander training in email signatures.
8. We request that UCD and the SoM provide a detailed written implementation plan setting out how each of the above commitments will be operationalised, including clear timelines, named responsible leads, reporting mechanisms, and defined review points to ensure transparency and accountability.
9. One additional demand remains confidential.

The statement concludes, “This was drafted with the collaboration of our Class Representatives in the School of Medicine and Senior Sabbatical Officers in UCDSU.” 

One class representative from the School of Medicine stated in a comment to the University Observer, "Our priorities with this action plan, following our productive meeting with the Dean of Medicine, are to amplify the voice of the victim and to protect our fellow students against future instances of sexual violence.”

UCD President Sends University-Wide Email

The publication of these demands follow a university-wide email sent by UCD President Orla Feely. The letter states that “The University acknowledges the deep distress and anguish that this shocking and abhorrent activity from an unknown source has caused the student”.

The letter states that the University immediately reported the incident to An Garda Síochána and that the investigation is live and ongoing. 

The letter claimed that the student “has been supported by the Head of our Student Advisory Services, who has met with her on several occasions and has offered ongoing support, regular meetings, check-ins and information about additional support”. 

In a recent statement to the University Observer, published on February 18th, the student commented, “Throughout this traumatic experience, I have felt profoundly alone and unsupported by UCD and its School of Medicine.” The statement continued, “From my perspective, I have been left to navigate the consequences of this horrific violation alone, while UCD continues to publicly comment on my trauma. I was not contacted by the School of Medicine when the image first circulated in 2025, nor when it resurfaced in November 2025. While the University chose to meet with class representatives about these incidents, I was neither informed of nor invited to those meetings; I learned about them through my peers.” 

“From my perspective, I have been left to navigate the consequences of this horrific violation alone, while UCD continues to publicly comment on my trauma. I was not contacted by the School of Medicine when the image first circulated in 2025, nor when it resurfaced in November 2025. While the University chose to meet with class representatives about these incidents, I was neither informed of nor invited to those meetings; I learned about them through my peers.” 

The statement from the student further continued, “Each time I asked for help and was let down, I lost a little more faith - until I eventually learned to stop asking.”

“Each time I asked for help and was let down, I lost a little more faith - until I eventually learned to stop asking.”

The letter from President Orla Feely continued, “The Head of the School of Medicine, Professor Paddy Mallon, has offered to meet with the student over recent weeks, and I have also invited her to meet with me and our Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Professor Aoife Ahern”. 

The letter contained links to a number of support systems within UCD, including the student counselling service, dignity and respect support service and a link to student mental health support. 

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is available via its national 24-hour helpline at 1800 77 8888.

Women’s Aid helpline is available at 1800 341 900.