Further to my last tweet, about reporting rape. The police CANNOT PROTECT YOU. If your rapist knows where you live, the best they can do is put a flag on your address so if you call from there they attend quickly. That's IT.

They will bring your rapist in for questioning, and then that person is released (I don't know in the case of people who've had a rape kit performed). They are now ANGRY and KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.

They aren't being watched, they aren't being monitored, and the best you can hope for is that the police get to you before this person beats you, rapes you, or murders you.

Reporting your rape to the police puts you at GREAT RISK. The council is supposed to then step in and try and move you. So you now have two options

1) You can go to a women's refuge. If you have any pets, you will need to miraculously find someone else to look after them or rehome them. If you have kids, you now need to explain why you're moving to a small room and why they can't tell anyone where you live.

You will need to pay to be at the refuge, and you'll also need to do something with everything you own. Good luck figuring that out. You now need to either try and build up the cash for a deposit on a new home, or you need to ask the council to rehome you

Now this brings us to option 2) Ask the council to rehome you. They WON'T. The council will not rehome you in the same place that the abuser lives. So you've got to prep yourself to move to a different county.

Except, the other counties will also not recognise their need to rehome you, as you don't have a local connection. You'll provide all the evidence you can from the police, a case worker, and they will still deny your application for housing.

ALL THE WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING, you are making statements to the police. You are preparing for what is to come. And all the while, the police will remind you that it is very unlikely the case will reach court, let alone that your rapist will be prosecuted.

Every. Little. Thing. Is stacked against you. For what? To end up homeless, separated from friends and family, now living your life with the sword of Damocles over your head in the form of a rapist POS who now wants you dead? Fantastic.

And again, for so, so many rapes, the rapist is someone you KNOW. So they likely know where you live, maybe where your friends and family live. So now they're at risk too. Magic.

Never EVER under any circumstances feel bad for not putting yourself through this. Rich from me, because I still have guilt, but please, if you've been through rape, remember that you are not selfish if you don't report. The rapist is who is responsible for their actions. NOT you