A student who was sexually assaulted after meeting a man on a dating app has appealed to other survivors to seek immediate help to ensure there’s a record of the abuse.

The woman, who was 20 at the time, was attacked during a short-term relationship after she moved to Belfast to begin her university studies.

Last year, 25-year-old Fearghall Joseph Mulgrew, of Mullaghmoyle Road in Stewartstown, County Tyrone was jailed after pleading guilty to sexually and physically assaulting the woman.

Sophie, not her real name, believes her attendance at a sexual assault referral centre afterwards was crucial to the prosecution.

• Warning: Some readers may find parts of this article distressing

A judge at Belfast Crown Court said Mulgrew subjected the woman to a “degrading and frightening” experience, and he used her “as a sexual toy whose personal integrity and feelings were entirely subservient to your sexual desires”.

He was given a 22-month sentence in April 2024, serving 14 months on licence.

The court was told Mulgrew was a student in Belfast when he initially met the woman on the dating app Tinder in March 2021.

They agreed that the woman would come to his accommodation for “rough” intercourse at 03:00 GMT.

The woman said it was not something she had done before, but she agreed to try it, and the pair had consensual sex.

The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, has now spoken about her ordeal and explained that they had been in a casual relationship for about a month.

“The day of the incident he’d made it clear that he wanted to do things his way which included rough sexual contact. I hadn’t quite expected it to be what it was,” she told BBC News NI.

“He bit me, you know, in intimate areas where I had to kick him to get him off, to get him to stop, and even though we had a safe word he made it very obvious that that wasn’t even going to work, and he held my mouth closed with his teeth so I couldn’t say anything.

“That’s what sticks with me the most, the biting, it was all over my face.”

Sophie, who has since left Northern Ireland, went to the Rowan sexual assault referral centre for help soon afterwards but she did not report the incident to the police until almost a year later.

She now believes her attendance at the centre was crucial to the subsequent prosecution of her abuser.

“I would advise that, even if you don’t know, because sometimes you can be so confused and so in shock that you don’t know but you think, then just get yourself looked at.

“For me, if I hadn’t gone to the Rowan, me reporting to the police would have been 100% more difficult. They wouldn’t have had my statement from the time, they wouldn’t have had photographs, and they wouldn’t have had all the swabs and things that they took.

“That evidence is invaluable especially if you are going into court,” she said.

It has been three years since the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) launched an action plan to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The PSNI said it had made 5,042 arrests by the end of August 2025 under new legislation and conducted hundreds of targeted patrols.

They said they have also put in place four stalking protection orders using the new laws.

Each month, 84 arrests have been made on average for domestic abuse, there have been an average of 19 arrests each month for the offences of stalking, threatening and abusive behaviour, and 76 arrests each month for non-fatal strangulation.

In the 12 months to July 2025 there were 21,729 violence against women and girls (VAWG) offences recorded – a reduction of 4% compared to the previous 12 months.

Det Ch Insp Leah Crothers, one of the PSNI’s tackling VAWG leads, said they “remain committed to doing everything” they can to prevent harm and call out unacceptable attitudes and behaviours.

“We have always been clear that it will take a societal effort to make a real change,” she added.

“Tackling violence against women and girls requires commitment from all — where perpetrators are held to account, communities stand together, and we work with partners to make every space safe. This remains our goal.”

Sophie said “too many men had blurred lines of consent and a misogynistic view on life”.

“I and so many other young women have suffered because of this. I am standing up to say it is not right and the only way to put a stop to it is to educate men and boys and for women like me to feel supported enough to report.”

If you are affected by domestic abuse, there is a range of support services available via the BBC’s Action Line page.