Fiona, an ex-prostitute, was kidnapped by a client, driven to Oxford and raped violently for several hours.

She managed to escape and found her way back to London where her pimp put her straight back on the streets.

Many of you will have seen her on the recent BBC documentary Paying For It, where she is now one of the women trying to prevent men using prostitutes.

The pilot scheme, run by Leeds Metropolitan University, in conjunction with Yorkshire Police, gives kerb-crawlers the option of a two-day course or court.

Fiona is one of the speakers on the course which, in its first few months, is proving a phenomenal success.

Katherine MacAlister talks to the young mum about how something positive came of such a devastating experience. Fiona Broadfoot was 15 when she became a prostitute and 18 when she was viciously raped. On the night of the attack she had been picked up in London by a "punter", as she calls them, and got in his car.

He locked her in and drove off, heading for Oxford.

She remembers the feeling of sheer terror and the certain knowledge that something terrible was going to happen to her.

"I kept thinking this is it," she said.

She remembers the Welcome to Oxford sign but otherwise is unsure of the exact scene of the crime.

"All I know is it was the end house on a street. The house was absolutely filthy and he dragged me in, raped me continuously and beat me up really badly.

"I don't know how I did it but after an hour, which seemed like a lifetime, I managed to grab some spray perfume from my handbag and squirted it in my attacker's face.

"Then I managed to escape and run into the street. I was streaming with blood and completely naked.

"Two guys came over and gave me a jumper. They then drove me back to London.

"I never wanted to go back on the streets again but my pimp ordered me into the shower and I was back on the job in hours. I never told the police because they always treated me so badly and my pimp told me they'd never believe me." Fiona cries every time she recalls the incident but at the time she blanked it from her memory.

Her advice now to any prostitute suffering similar attacks is to get a solicitor.

"Contact any women's group and they will put you in touch with someone. Fight for it. Don't let them get away with it. Something can be done."

But Fiona was not free until she was 26 when her cousin, also a prostitute, was murdered. It was then that the haunting memories of the rape came flooding back and she had a breakdown.

She said: "I was often abused in my 11 years on the streets, whether by clients or by my pimp, but the Oxford attack still stands out in my mind."

"I still get nightmares about it but not so often.

"When my cousin died I realised it could have been me and I saw how much pain her parents went through and realised what my family nearly suffered. I knew I had to get out then," she said. After her cousin was killed, Fiona started going to a drop-in-centre for street prostitutes and was persuaded to start life afresh.

She went on Income Support and heard about a new scheme which punished the "punters" instead of the prostitutes and immediately contacted the organiser. That was four years ago.

Since then she has been a main player at the John School, based in Bradford.

If caught kerb-crawling, it's Fiona, now 30, you'll be facing as she explains the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of clients; about how trapped prostitutes can become; how they are controlled by their pimps and how deeply miserable the majority of them are.

"Recent TV programmes show some woman in a four-bedroomed house making stacks of cash from prostitution. They should keep quiet because they're swaying public opinion and they're a tiny minority. "The reality is street prostitution, where most hookers are drug addicts living in disgusting conditions and trapped. They are so screwed up and damaged. It's a vicious circle.

"Yet they are the ones being prosecuted and treated like criminals instead of being rehabilitated, offered better accommodation, education and a future," Fiona said.

"At the moment their criminal records and the stigma attached keeps them down."

And the John School is working. No punter has yet been caught re-offending.

But Fiona hasn't stopped there. As well as bringing up her three year-old young son Elliott, Fiona has founded a group called Street Exit. It aims to get as many women off the streets as possible and she's a shining example of how it can be done. Fiona hopes her new group will reach prostitutes nationally. "Even if there isn't a big prostitute problem in Oxford it just means that women are brought in from outside," she saidShe said: "Not only do we want to get them off the streets but we want to change legislation so that pimps get a more severe punishment.

"At the moment they just get done for living off immoral earnings, not kidnap, abuse or drug dealing."

And people are starting to sit up and take notice of her. Fiona has been invited to speak at numerous national conferences ranging from the police to social services, women's and human rights groups.

She said: "I get respect from the police now. A lot of them come up after a talk and admit they have been guilty of treating prostitutes badly but will now treat them better. Attitudes are certainly changing."

Fiona has also managed to train as a youth worker and has taken up a post working with vulnerable young women aged 15 to 21.

"It's often hard and tragic work but I wake up every morning happy to be alive. It's an uphill struggle but I'm 100 per cent focused on what I'm doing." As for men in her life, Fiona isn't ready for romance yet, although she did have a brief relationship recently with an Oxford University student, and even came back to the city to visit him.

Did that bring back haunting memories?

"No, I'll never get over what happened there but I have learned to live with it. I've come a long way," she said.

Anyone wanting further information or wanting to make donations can phone the Street Exit Helpline on 01274 426523 or write to Street Exit 2, PO Box 448, Bradford BD48YJ.

Story date: Saturday 30 January

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.