POLICE have launched an investigation after a woman was raped in a tent at an anti-capitalism protest camp in Glasgow.
The woman was attacked late on Tuesday night by two men who had joined demonstrators at the Occupy Glasgow camp opposite the City Chambers in George Square. She is now receiving medical care and is said to be “distraught”.
The camp was set up on October 15 as part of an “anti-greed” movement which has also seen demonstrations take place in other cities across the world -- most visibly in London outside St Paul’s Cathedral and in New York’s Wall Street.
The Glasgow camp has become a magnet for the homeless and other people on the streets, and protesters have been giving them food and clothing and offering them shelter.
Last night the demonstrators’ spokesman, Grant Thistle, said the woman was not one of the original protesters but had turned up a week ago with her boyfriend in a “weakened state” and had been taken in by them.
Her boyfriend left the camp several days ago. It is thought the woman knew the men who attacked her.
Police are hunting two slim-built men aged between 20 and 30. One has short brown hair and the other blond, spiked hair.
Mr Thistle said: “We are shocked and disgusted as an inclusive community to find the alleged rape happened in the vicinity of the camp.”
Police want to speak to any witnesses who were in the vicinity of George Square on Tuesday evening between 9pm and midnight.
They also want to speak to the victim’s boyfriend, although he is not a suspect.
Detective Inspector Douglas McKinlay said: “She is distraught and receiving the best of medical care at the moment. She may have known her attackers, although possibly not by name.
“I would reiterate to members of the public that this is not a stranger attack. It appears to be people who are known to the complainer.”
The encampment is made up of about 20 tents and has been home to a core of around two dozen protesters, with many others coming and going.
Yesterday, members of the demonstration group expressed their shock at the rape.
One, who did not want to be named, said many protesters had become concerned about the volatile nature of some of the night-time visitors to the camp, but felt they were powerless to ask them to leave.
Last week, a man claimed he was a police informant who was being paid to disrupt the group. He then brandished a knife at protesters and is thought to have stolen money from communal funds.
The man also turned up at Occupy Glasgow’s headquarters and threatened activists with violence.
The protester said: “They are on the streets and they saw the tents and the lights and just started wandering in at night. They weren’t interested in the protest. A lot of them are vulnerable in some way.
“We asked the police to provide us with more protection and spoke to the council about it sending round community wardens, but we were left on our own to deal with them.”
Glasgow City Council has been working with the demonstrators but last night said it was time for them to leave.
Colin Edgar, the council’s head of communication, said: “We have made other options available to them and are happy to discuss any options they may have.
“Early on in the protest they said they had vulnerable and homeless people turning up, because people go to where they think they can get help. We printed leaflets for them with contact details and addresses where people can go to get help.
“We would like them to move on to somewhere else in the city. What might have happened during the past 24 hours does not affect that.”
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