‘Every man I passed, around 40, made some attempt to grope me, pull up my dress, separate me from my friends or fight me.’
Those are the harrowing words of a young British woman, who heard the screams of another woman being sexually assaulted while she experienced the same fate.
Imogen was on holiday in Milan, Italy to celebrate the New Year when she was grabbed and sexually assaulted by a group of men – who seemed to enjoy her struggling and pleading for help, she said.
The 19-year-old, who bravely agreed to be named and pictured, was left bleeding after being grabbed by an ‘organised’ group of men who dragged her away from her friends.
She had spent the evening with two male friends, also from England, and a group of six Belgians they met on their travels, before heading to the Piazza del Duomo to watch the fireworks.
Surrounded by 30 to 40 strangers Imogen said they grabbed her arms and hands so she couldn’t defend herself.
The fireworks display was held at the Piazza del Duomo (Picture: Getty Images)
‘Several men, at the same time, started to grope me, while another tried to pull up my dress,’ she said. ‘I was struggling to get free, and they were enjoying my distress.’
She panicked as she heard one man mention raping her, and another tried to sexually assault her with his hands – at which point she felt like she had to ‘fight to survive’ the ‘dehumanising’ ordeal.
Now safely back in the UK, Imogen told MailOnline she only managed to escape when she started screaming, which got the attention of her friends in the crowd.
She hopes to spread awareness of what happened that night – as well as dispel myths about the alleged perpetrators of the mass assaults, including that the attackers were holding Palestinian flags.
‘It is a total, blatant lie, to claim that our group were attacked by men holding Palestinian flags,’ Imogen said.
‘I think it is disgusting that people would use our traumatic story to push a political agenda and I want people to understand that many of the descriptions I have read are wholly untrue.
‘I will not allow my sexual attack to become an opportunity to divide people – it is a moment to unite women, and the people of Italy, in outrage that this was allowed to happen during a joyful celebration.’
As Imogen and her group of friends arrived at the Piazza del Duomo, she noticed there was no visible police presence.
She and a friend left the rest of the group to find a toilet, and as she moved through the crowd she felt a man trying to grope her, pulling at her dress.
Having lost that man in the crowd, she felt unsafe again making her way back to her friends, with other girls in the group saying they had been touched by other men.
Fireworks were set off in the crowd which added to the chaos (Picture: NF/newsX)
Imogen explained: ‘Around two minutes from midnight, the girls began to share that they were also uncomfortable and had felt men beginning to touch them.
‘However, by this point, there was no escape and we were forced to stand next to our male friends for safety and wait for the fireworks. This was our biggest mistake.
‘As the boys became distracted and pulled out their phones to record the New Year countdown, I was instantly grabbed from behind and pulled away from my friends. This is when the attack began.
‘They held my arms and hands, so I couldn’t fight back, whilst I was surrounded by a group in what appeared to be an organised attack. Multiple men, at once, began to grope me, whilst another attempted to pull up my dress.
‘As I panicked, and fought for freedom, it became apparent that they enjoyed my distress and this only excited my attackers.’
Imogen fought back against the attackers, ending up with bleeding cuts and bruises as she struggled. An ‘unknown liquid’ was thrown over her, causing her eyes and nose to sting.
Hearing her friend screaming next to her, who was being grabbed and assaulted in the same way, Imogen tried to intervene and her friend managed to break free.
The group then turned their ire towards Imogen, but the commotion caused the crowd to disperse which gave her more room to escape.
After breaking free she and her friends ‘desperately’ searched for police officers, which seemed to scare off the attackers who were still following them.
When they did eventually find officers – as there weren’t any in the Piazza during the New Year celebration, she says – they allegedly told her there was ‘nothing that they could do’.
‘When I showed them bloodied injuries I had on my arms and explained I and many other women had been sexually assaulted, their attitude changed,’ Imogen said.
Officers called for back-up and took a full statement from Imogen. She says a female officer consoled her and said it was ‘a known problem and our attackers were Bangladeshi men’.
But Imogen said the assault she and others experienced was not in the name of religion or political activism – and has hit out against people victim blaming her and others.
Imogen said there weren’t any police amongst the huge crowds (Picture: NF/newsX)
‘I am so upset after reading many articles that claim it was a matter of religion, indirectly blaming Islam,’ she said.
‘The evil we experienced that night was the absolute absence of religion.
‘Those men had no motive but to take advantage of innocent women, knowing they would escape without suffering the consequences.
‘It was not in the name of religion, it was not in the name of political activism, it was an act of vocalised disrespect towards the Italian people and their principles.
‘I dress modestly. I am tall, strong and did not encourage my attackers. Sexual assault is random.
‘We are not to blame and I could never have expected our attack.
‘This is also not a reflection of all Bangladeshi people, or people non-native to Italy.
‘This was an organised group of disgusting men, who deserve to suffer the consequences of their actions.’
Imogen is now back in the UK and has returned to her studies at a university in the north of England.
She is filing a legal complaint via the Italian embassy in England, and says investigators are speaking to other women to understand the full ‘scale’ of the attack.
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