NIAMH NÍ DHOMHNAILL has said that she believes the boyfriend who raped her would have raped someone else and hopes his sentence will now stop him.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast after Magnus Meyer Hustveit was re-sentenced to 15 months in prison, she says she hopes her decision to go public will inform a public debate about rape and consent.
“It was always important to me that this be beneficial to the wider public…. I’m always going to be happy with my decision of going public because I had nothing to be ashamed of.”
Ní Dhomhnaill said she would encourage people who’ve been raped or abused to come forward, but added that if they choose not to she understands because of the difficulties they face getting justice.
She says that she was four years in the justice system before the man who raped her as she slept was finally given a jail sentence.
Meyer Hustveit pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault and was initially given a wholly suspended seven year sentence.
The leniency of that sentence was appealed and earlier this month the Norwegian was sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Ní Dhomhnaill says she’s not happy with the sentence but is glad a jail term has now been handed down.
She described the initial ruling as “dangerous” and said that she’s unhappy it took going public for it to be changed.
“I obviously still feel that’s it’s not 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 which is what we had in the first place.”
Even if I’m never happy with the sentence that was passed down to Magnus, I hope that he at least knows that he can’t get away with that type of behaviour because I don’t think he would have stopped at just me.
On going public, Ní Dhomhnaill says that she has “no regrets” but that she still has “dark days”.
“Going public, while it’s been difficult, it also had a lot silver linings and seeing other people’s outrage kind of validated that what he did was wrong and that yes it did hurt.”
Part of recovery is that you know you have to keep going, no matter how difficult something is. You have to make time to see people, to go for a run, to allow yourself to laugh if you find something funny.
Ní Dhomhnaill says that she’s ‘seen some horrendous things written about me’ but has never taken them personally.
I’m not going to get into an argument with someone on the internet over what are realistically minor details in the case. Why I didn’t wake up is actually irrelevant because his actions were still dangerous.
She says that she’s now trying to move on with her life, adding that she has begun a relationship during her ordeal through the courts.
“I can’t let the actions of one person mar every other experience I have from here on out.”
“The past while has also taught me the power of love and the power of trusting in people.”
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