YEP says: Rape is a subject to discuss with your sons not your daughters

Let's talk to our sons about violence against women

But the YEP makes no apology for printing the full story, because to do otherwise would not be doing justice to the bravery and dignity of the young woman who stood up in court to face her attacker.

We do not run this story to scare women, to put them off going out, doing what they want to do, or feeling safe in the city centre; because it is unacceptable to suggest that it is the responsibility of women to reduce the chances of being raped. That is simply ridiculous.

As this 20-year-old student tried to make sense of what happened she lay in bed, “Questioning why I was the victim and questioning if the pain I caused my family was worth walking back to my accommodation.”

She caused NONE of this. She is the victim of another human being’s brutality, cruelty and savagery.

It is down to all of us to teach our sons that the responsibility NOT to rape is theirs. They can choose whether or not to have sex with a woman who is incapable of saying no, or not stalking a stranger through the streets before savagely attacking her.