SCOTS MP: I WAS RAPED AT AGE OF 14
Tears as politician tells Commons of sex attack hell
A SCOTTISH MP yesterday stunned the House of Commons by revealing she had been raped at the age of 14. Michelle Thomson delivered an emotional and powerful speech detailing the horrific moment 37 years ago when she was attacked by someone she knew and trusted.
The mother of two left many of her colleagues, including Speaker John Bercow, visibly moved after telling them: ‘I’m not a victim, I’m a survivor.’
Mrs Thomson said she had never reported the rape to the police but it is understood officers will now ask her if she wishes to take further action.
The Edinburgh West MP told how she had been walking home from a youth event with a male she knew, who then led her into a wooded area and carried out the attack.
She said the moment had changed her life and revealed that she never even confided in her mother, who died not knowing of Mrs Thomson’s ordeal.
The MP told the Commons: ‘When I was 14, I was raped. As is common, it was by
somebody who was known to me. He had offered to walk me home from a youth event.
‘In those days, everybody walked everywhere, it was quite common. It was early evening. It was not dark. I was wearing – I am imagining and guessing – jeans and a sweatshirt. I knew my way around where I lived, I was very comfortable, and we went a slightly different way, but I did not think anything of it.
‘He told me that he wanted to show me something in a wooded area. At that point, I must admit that I was alarmed. I did have a warning bell but I overrode that warning bell because I knew him and therefore there was a level of trust in place. To be honest, looking back at that point, I do not think I knew what rape was. It was not something that was talked about.’
The independent MP made the speech during a debate on the UN international day for the elimination of violence against women.
Mrs Thomson, who was born in Bearsden, near Glasgow, added: ‘It was mercifully quick and I remember first of all feeling surprise, then fear, then horror as I realised that I quite simply could not escape, because obviously he was stronger than me.
‘There was no sense, even initially, of any sexual desire from him which, looking back again, I suppose I find odd. My senses were absolutely numbed. I now understand that your subconscious brain, not your conscious brain, decides on your behalf how you should respond: whether you take flight, whether you fight or whether you freeze. And I froze, I must be honest.
‘Afterwards I walked home alone. I was crying, I was cold and I was shivering. I now realise, of course, that that was the shock response.’
The 51-year-old added: ‘I did not tell my mother. I did not tell my father. I did not tell my friends. And I did not tell the police. I bottled it all up inside me. I hoped briefly, and appallingly, that I might be pregnant so that that would force a situation to help me control it.
‘I was very ashamed. I was ashamed that I had “allowed this to happen to me”. I had a whole range of internal conversations: “I should have known. Why did I go that way? Why did I walk home with him? Why didn’t I understand the danger? I deserved it because I was too this, too that.”
‘I felt that I was spoiled and impure, and I really felt revulsion towards myself.’
Mrs Thomson, who lives in Edinburgh with her husband Peter, said the attack changed her personality when she was growing up, adding: ‘I carried that guilt, anger, fear, sadness and bitterness for years.’
When she got married 12 years after the rape, she ‘could not say the words without crying’ when trying to tell her husband what happened. She only managed to seek help in her mid-40s. The MP added: ‘It had a huge effect on me and it fundamentally, and fatally, undermined my self-esteem, my confidence and my sense of self-worth.’
Mrs Thomson ‘thought carefully’ about whether to tell Parliament but decided to confront a taboo that makes it ‘truly shocking to talk in public about this sort of thing’. Bringing her emotional speech to an end, she said: ‘Rape does not just affect the woman – it affects the family as well. Before my mother died early of cancer, I really wanted to tell her but I could not bring myself to do it.
‘I have a daughter and if something happened to her and she could not share it with me, I would be appalled. It was possibly cowardly, but it was an act of love that meant that I protected my mother.’
The MP added: ‘A rape happens when a man makes a decision to hurt someone he feels he can control. Rapes happen because of the rapist, not because of the victim.
‘One thing that I realise now is that I am not scared and he was. I am not scared. I am not a victim. I am a survivor.’
Mr Bercow appeared to wipe away a tear and his voiced broke with emotions as he said: ‘I thank the honourable lady for what she has said and the way in which she said it, which has left an indelible impression upon us all.’
Politicians from all parties praised Mrs Thomson’s bravery.
In a statement last night, Nicola Sturgeon called the MP ‘incredibly brave’. The First Minister added: ‘Michelle’s account of what hap-
‘I felt revulsion towards myself’
‘Hugely brave and moving’
pened to her as a youngster stands as a vivid reminder of the kind of violence all too frequently perpetrated against women and girls, but which this kind of courageous testimony can and will help to combat.’
SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson praised the ‘hugely brave and moving testimony’ by Mrs Thomson during the debate’.
Labour MP Jess Phillips said: ‘Amazing and brave speech by Michelle Thomson today. We stand shoulder to shoulder.’
Mrs Thomson was not available last night to comment further.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Speaking out about sexual abuse is incredibly difficult, and disclosures are often made many years after an incident took place. Police Scotland will listen to any such disclosure, regardless of the passage of time, and will investigate. Our response is always victim-focused and every investigation will be tailored to meet their individual needs.’
Sandy Brindley of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: ‘This is a brave and important thing to do. Someone speaking so publicly about rape can send a strong message to other rape survivors – that the shame is not theirs, and it is OK to talk about it and to seek support.’
Mrs Thomson served as a Nationalist MP after being elected in 2015 but resigned the party whip following allegations over property deals. She is now an independent MP.