Niamh Ní Dhomhnaill, says she has “taken ownership” of what happened to her and that she will not allow the actions of her former boyfriend Magnus Meyer Hustveit determine how she deals with people in the future.
Last week the Court of Appeal sentenced Hustveit to 15 months imprisonment following a finding by the Court of Appeal that his original term was “unduly lenient”.
Ms Ní Dhomhnaill learned that her former boyfriend had raped and sexually assaulted her after Hustveit (26) wrote to her, explaining that he had been using her “body for my gratification” for nearly a year.
Hustveit, who is from Norway, was originally given a wholly suspended seven year sentence in 2015 after he pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault committed against his 28-year-old girlfriend between 2011 and 2012.
Ms Ní Dhomhnaill waived her right to anonymity at the time so that his identity could be published.
“I don’t think he’s worth never trusting anyone again, I wouldn’t let him do that to me,” she told Newstalk Breakfast. “I can’t let the actions of one person mar every relationship I have from here on.
‘Precedent’
Ms Ní Dhomhnaill said she was satisfied that the original sentence had been over ruled but was unhappy that she had to “go public” to ensure this happened.
“I still don’t think it is representative of what happened to me, but it is better than nothing. It was a dangerous precedent to set.”
Going public has been difficult, she admitted, but there was a silver lining in seeing other people’s outrage.
“It validated what I did. That what he did was wrong, that I had been hurt.
“Part of recovery is that you know you have to keep going. You have to make time to see people, to go for a run. You have to allow yourself to laugh when you find something funny.”
Ms Ní Dhomhnaill admitted that by waiving her anonymity she had no control over what people said or wrote about her.
“I had no way of knowing it would explode the way it did. Some of the the things said were horrendous. Why I didn’t wake up is irrelevant because his actions were still dangerous.
“I had to take action because abusers don’t stop with just one person. They continue to do so. That has to be corrected.”
Ms Ní Dhomhnaill said she would encourage others to report abuse but added that she understood and would support anyone who felt they could not do so.