RAPE SURVIVOR: ‘I feel guilty to have lived’

Laura Prada, 22, from Manchester, was raped by a stranger as she walked home from a night out in December 2019. She says, “When I was being attacked, all I could think about was my family. I thought, ‘If this is the end, I’ve had an amazing life, but I hope my parents will be able to get through this.’

“Reading the heartbreaking statements from Sarah Everard’s family brought me back to that moment. I hope in time, they’ll be able to come to terms with what happened to their beloved daughter.

“The night I was attacked I’d been out with friends. I stopped drinking at around midnight, and at 2am I left my group to go home. The wait for a taxi was 30 minutes, so I decided to walk the 15 minutes back to my halls. Unbeknown to me, I was being followed by a man (Callum Jamieson, 24) who had previously been jailed for sexually and violently assaulting other women.

“I was across the road from my halls when he came out of nowhere and knocked me to the ground. He pulled me into some bushes, and forced himself on me. I had never known real fear until then, convinced that I was going to die. But another student heard my screams and interrupted the attacker.

“Ten days later, Jamieson was arrested thanks to a DNA match. He pleaded guilty, and in January 2020 was sentenced to eight years in prison. Recovery has been a long process. As well as support from my family, friends and boyfriend, Ryan, therapy has helped me accept what happened.

“I want to encourage women to put safety measures in place. Get a taxi rather than walk, and if you are by yourself, don’t wear headphones, and call a friend. I’d like to see more education for boys and young men – we need everyone to be feminists if we want to put a stop to this kind of violence.

“Now, I’m in a good place, but I sometimes feel guilty that I lived, when others didn’t. I’ll continue to share my story in honour of Sarah and Sabina, and in the hope that I can help protect other women from experiencing what I did.”