A YOUNG rape victim who ended up collapsing in the street half-naked and covered in blood has told of her ordeal in a bid to change attitudes towards the crime.
Sarah Scott, of Aberdeenshire, was 19 when she suffered two rapes at the hands of 38-year-old Adrian Ruddock after a night-out in December 2010.
Ruddock lured Ms Scott back to his flat in Aberdeen by lying that her sister was there at a party.
He then beat her and raped her twice before she ran out into the street bleeding and wearing only a dressing gown.
She collapsed and was later found by two CID officers.
Ruddock was sentenced to eight years in prison in June last year, but Ms Scott, now 21, says she blamed herself for a long time after the attack because of people's attitudes towards her.
She said: "I didn't realise quite how cold people could be until this happened to me. People said, 'If you hadn't put yourself in that situation it wouldn't have happened.'
"They said, 'If you don't want to be a victim, don't go out drinking, don't wear short skirts', but I shouldn't have to be responsible for preventing my rape.
"Regardless of what I'm doing or wearing, if I'm raped, the person responsible for that is the man who attacks me."
Ms Scott, who was hospitalised after her attack and had to receive counselling, will feature in tomorrow night's BBC3 documentary I Never Said Yes, which looks at why thousands of rapes go unreported and conviction rates remain low.
The young mother agreed to take part in an interview for the programme in the hope that more women will be encouraged to come forward and report attacks to the police without any fear they will be blamed.
She said: "I think about what happened every day of my life but I'm determined not to let him own my life.
"I can either sit and think about it negatively or I can channel my pain into something more positive, and that's what I've done and that's why I wanted to take part in the documentary.
"If I can help even just one woman to realise it wasn't her fault and to come forward, then waiving my anonymity will have been worthwhile."
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