'Dear sex attacker, you will not win' - Oxford University student published letter
- Published
An Oxford University student has written a heartfelt letter to a man who sexually assaulted her.
Ione Wells has spoken out about the attack in April in an open letter, published in the university's newspaper, the Cherwell.
She wrote that she would not let the attack change her and would come out of it stronger.
Ione also used the letter to argue that attacks are never the victim's fault, with the hashtag #NotGuilty.
The 20-year-old was attacked as she walked home from Chalk Farm London Underground station early on Saturday 11 April.
In the letter, Ione describes how she was pushed to the ground by a man who then grabbed her by her hair and dragged her along the ground and grabbed her breast.
She says he ran off when her neighbours and family heard what was going on and came outside.
A 17-year-old pleaded guilty to sexual assault on Monday. He'll appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on 6 May for a sentencing hearing.
Ione wrote: "I cannot address this letter to you, because I do not know your name... And I have one question.
"When you were caught on CCTV following me through my neighbourhood, when you waited until I was on my own street to approach me, when you clapped your hand around my face until I could not breathe, when you pushed me to my knees until my face bled, when I wrestled with your hand just enough so that I could scream."
"When you dragged me by my hair, and when you smashed my head against the pavement and told me to stop screaming, when my neighbour saw you and shouted at you and you looked her in the eye and carried on kicking me.
Ione's words depicted by Newsbeat resident artist Ginevra Boni
"When you tore my bra in half from the sheer force you grabbed my breast, when you didn't reach for my belongings because you wanted my body, when you failed to have my body because all my neighbours and family came out, and you saw them… did you ever think of the people in your life?"
"My community will not feel we are unsafe walking back home after dark. We will get on the last Tube home, and we will walk up our streets alone, because we will not ingrain or submit to the idea that we are putting ourselves in danger in doing so… Your community - even if you can't see it around you every day. It is there. It is everywhere.
"You underestimated mine. Or should I say ours? I could say something along the lines of, 'Imagine if it had been a member of your community,' but instead let me say this. There are no boundaries to community; there are only exceptions, and you are one of them."
The letter has since been shared thousands of times and appeared in national newspapers.
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