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A school teacher in Leeds says she was raped when a group of men mistook her to be a sex worker walking the streets of Holbeck.

The woman, writing as Alice on the Save Our Eyes blog, has recalled the harrowing night in May this year when she was returning home near the managed sex zone.

The woman, who was seeking refuge from domestic violence, explains how she was approached for sex twice a week and found it 'distressing' and 'scary' with kerb crawlers roaming residential streets.

On May 6 at around 11pm after Alice had been out for a drink with a friend, a group of men pulled up next to her just yards from the refuge, asking if she would go to a party with them.

Two men then got out of the vehicle and bundled her into the car.

'They attacked me and one of the men raped me'

Just a few minutes away Alice arrived with the men at an empty house where it became clear they thought she was a sex worker, and began asking about prices for sex.

Alice says that the men didn't believe her because she was walking the streets in Holbeck late at night.

One of the men then raped her.

She managed to escape afterwards and a nearby resident took her in to call the police.

A man was later arrested but then released after officers were unable to find sufficient evidence to continue the investigation.

The 'Managed Approach' in Holbeck - the first of its kind in the UK - has come under criticism since it was first set up in an attempt to better control prostitution in Leeds.

Comment from West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police received reports of a serious sexual assault involving a 26 year old woman in the Beeston area of Leeds, which was alleged to have occurred on the morning of 6th May 2018. A 33-year-old man was subsequently arrested in connection with the incident. All the available evidence was reviewed and it was determined that no further action would be taken.

The zone is largely in an industrial area, away from homes and gives the authorities better opportunities to reach out to the prostitutes and offer support.

However, the 'Save Our Eyes' campaign group was set up to prove that the approach was not working, with sex workers spilling onto residential streets across Holbeck.

The first in our LeedsLive Untold Stories saw live news reporter Kristian Johnson explore life in this part of the city for business owners, landlords and crucially residents living there.

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Alice, who says she is 'devastated' police are no longer pursuing the case, said:

"I’m speaking out because the authorities are housing vulnerable women in Holbeck where they are not safe.

'I wasn’t safe right outside the front door of a women’s refuge'

"We are told that the managed approach for prostitution is supposed to make women safer but in reality it does not.

"It puts women at risk because perverts and rapists are drawn to the area and made much bolder by the policy."

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