On March 9th, about 150 students walked out of their classes at 12:50pm in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. The students gathered by the Dining Hall steps and then moved to information stalls set up in the GMB Recreation Room. The walk-out was organised in the wake of the protests at UCD’s O’Reilly Hall on March 4th against the lack of support UCD provided for an undergraduate medical student who was sexually assaulted.
Once the students gathered, Grace McNally, president of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) addressed the crowd, thanking them for their presence and support for the victims of sexual assault. McNally also emphasised the need for action now rather than waiting “for another failure before demanding stronger survivor support.” Speaking on the backlash UCD faced for not supporting the victim of the assault, she said, “universities must understand that protecting themselves at the expense of survivors will be met with sustained resistance”. She signed off by saying, “to all survivors, we stand with you. To all students organising, we stand with you. And to university administrations, we are watching and we will not accept performative responses.”
McNally then welcomed the next speaker Sadhbh O’Hanrahan from the Student Counselling Services (SCS). O’Hanrahan talked about how Image Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA) disproportionately affects women and impacts their daily lives: “the harm can be absolutely huge. People’s confidence, friendships, study, sleep, safety, and sense of self can be shaken,” she said. She then explained the role that SCS can play in helping victims and survivors on campus, saying that the service is available to all, is free, and can be availed by anyone whether they are affected directly or indirectly.
Deirdre Leahy, the Welfare and Equality Officer, then took the stage. She talked to the crowd about the current month-long fundraiser called Mnárta, which raises money throughout March for various charities on issues affecting women including some sexual and domestic violence charities. Sharing statistics, she said, “two-thirds of young adults who are sexually assaulted first disclosed to a friend, not a counsellor, not a professional”. She raised a call to action, saying: “Here is my ask today: that each and every one of you goes and takes a leaflet or chats to the services set up in the GMB and tells one friend what you have learned.”
The final speaker of the afternoon was the President of the UCD Students’ Union, Michael Roche. He began by thanking Trinity students for their participation in the walkout and the protest at UCD last week. With regards to the situation at UCD, he said, “an attack on one student is an attack on all students”. He emphasised the importance of the student movement at large standing up for this issue: “What’s happening at UCD is not an isolated failure. It can happen in your university, it can happen in any university,” he said. He ended by calling on the students to fight for sectoral and cultural change.
Students then proceeded to the GMB Recreation Room where they were handed leaflets and provided with more information by stalls set up by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and SCS.
Additional reporting by Freja Goldman
