Leeds woman Rhiannon Boardman speaks out after being the victim of sexual assault to raise awareness and 'break the stigma'
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00:00Absolutely, so I'm Rhiannon Boardman. On the 25th of October 2022 I was sexually assaulted by
00:07someone I know. Since then I've been through the police and the court process
00:13and on the 13th of January this year the person who assaulted me was sentenced to prison. The reason
00:19that I've chosen to speak out is to raise awareness of sexual assaults and to break the stigma
00:23surrounding it. I think the weeks and months after sexual assaults can be often overwhelming
00:29for victims or it was for me and filled with a lot of unknown so if sharing my story can help
00:36just one person who's in a similar position to me then it's been worth it. I've had so much
00:42support from the courts and the police over this time which I've been really grateful for
00:48and I feel lucky to be in a position where I'm able to speak about what happened to me.
00:53I've got the opportunity to take what happened and turn it into a positive by hopefully helping
00:59others and encouraging people who have been sexually assaulted to speak about it if that's
01:04what they're comfortable doing. So in October I'll be running Manchester Hearth Marathon as well
01:11and that's in aid of Victim Support who is a charity that helps victims rebuild their lives
01:17after being victim to crime and start navigating after life has changed and they do a lot of
01:23important work so I'm hoping to use my experience to help fund their amazing work.
01:29you