McGill student speaks out about rape

A McGill student who was raped has told her story publicly for the first time to TV McGill. The video interview is spreading fast on Facebook and has already been viewed more than 5,000 times.

Sarelle Sheldon says she was out with a couple of friends at a Montreal bar when a guy who she had been "trying to give the cold shoulder" started talking to her. Her friends went upstairs. After that, things got fuzzy. She woke up in the hospital with police, doctors and social workers who said she was raped and found in an alleyway with almost no clothing. She remembers the man from the bar holding her against a wall. She remembers scratching him. That was only the beginning of the pain. She alleges that the police didn’t take her case seriously enough. The rapist wasn’t caught.

Sheldon says McGill refunded her courses and a university counsellor helped her work through the trauma. "It’s not something you can handle on your own and you may not be comfortable speaking with your friends and family," she advises, "but you need to get it out." Watch Breaking the Silence.

(Video credit: Cedric Yarish, Spencer Macnaughton)