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"You have to keep going" - Woman who was raped by boyfriend in her sleep speaks out

A woman who was raped by her boyfriend as she slept says those who have suffered an injustice sho...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.46 24 Mar 2016


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"You have to keep goin...

"You have to keep going" - Woman who was raped by boyfriend in her sleep speaks out

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.46 24 Mar 2016


Share this article


A woman who was raped by her boyfriend as she slept says those who have suffered an injustice should come forward.

Niamh Ní Dhomhnaill says she does not believe Magnus Meyer-Hustveit "would have stopped with just me".

Hustveit, who is from Norway, was jailed for 15 months following an appeal after he was originally given a suspended sentence.

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A few months after first meeting in May 2011, Hustveit moved into a Dublin city apartment with Ms Ní Dhomhnaill.

After suspecting he was having sex with her while she slept, she confronted him - and he sent her an e-mail, admitting to using her body for his own gratification.

Hustveit had moved back to Norway where he was living with his new partner and her children.

Ms Ní Dhomhnaill, who has waived her right to anonymity, told Newstalk Breakfast: "I'm obviously unhappy that it took going public and it took a lot of people getting quite angry about it for that to happen.

"I obviously still don't feel that it's representative of what has been taken away from me, and what continues to be taken away from me - but it's something and it's better than nothing.

"Seeing other people's outrage kind of validated that...what he did was wrong and it has hurt.

"Part of recovery is that you know you have to keep going, no matter how difficult something is."

On going public to speak out, Ms Ní Dhomhnaill said: "Obviously I've read some horrendous things that I've seen written about me...but I don't take it personally and I never have done.

"It was always very important to me that this be beneficial to the wider public - and if my case has highlighted a need to talk about consent and perhaps a need to talk about abusive relationships in sentencing - if I've helped and contributed to that in any way, then I'm very happy with that.

"The past while has also taught me the power of love, and the power of trusting people."


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