A WOMAN who was raped at knife-point in her own home is appealing for the future of rape crisis services in Edinburgh to be secured.

Tracey Wilson, 41, from West Lothian, said the service "helped turn her life round" after she was held and threatened with death during her ordeal.

John McKeown, who also threatened to kill her nephew and the boy's father if any- one tried to raise the alarm, was jailed for six years in July 2011.

Ms Wilson waived her right to anonymity when her attacker admitted the crime, and spoke out to try to help other victims.

Now Ms Wilson is adding her voice to widespread anxiety about the future of the rape crisis counselling and support services in Edinburgh, having learned budget cuts could see it forced to reduce its staffing level and workload by half.

Ms Wilson, who lost her voice for five weeks because she was so traumatised by the attack in November 2010, started to see a support worker at Edinburgh's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in February 2011.

She said: "I started off thinking 'I don't want this. Who can help me?' But I met this amazing woman and it's no exaggeration to say she turned my life round. I don't think I realised it, but I was cracking up. I had started to feel sorry for this young man who had ruined his life, as well as mine. I was thinking I wanted to go and see him.

"There were so many crazy thoughts going round in my head, but my support worker was able to answer most of my questions and explain to me why I was feeling as I did. She explained Stockholm Syndrome to me, where the victim starts to feel sympathy for the attacker.

"The eight sessions I had with her were fantastic and vital in getting me through my ordeal. I had family, friends and a good support network, but there were things I didn't want to discuss with them. Her support and understanding was amazing, and it probably stopped me from cracking up."

The centre in Edinburgh, the busiest in Scotland, has 12 staff filling the equivalent of eight full-time posts and 13 trained volunteers. Last year, it worked with 360 victims, responded to 2601 calls to the helpline and provided 2334 support and counselling sessions.

A £90,000 shortfall would see frontline services reduced by 40% and potential redundancies to half the staff and volunteers.

With waiting lists already at nine months, centre manager Caroline Burrell is desperate to ensure the service is maintained. She said: "Sexual violence and abuse affects as many as one in five women in the UK. We currently reach hundreds of women and children every year, and any reduction in service will be devastating for those who need our support."

Lewis Macdonald, Labour's spokesman on Justice, said: "Rape crisis centres protect and support some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and we cannot cut corners when it comes to their funding."