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GK Barry has revealed it took her ten years to realize the police were ‘really wrong’ to discourage her from reporting her attacker when she was raped as a teenager.
The I’m A Celebrity star, 27, who shot to fame on TikTok, bravely spoke out about being raped by an older man she reported to during a week’s work experience in her second year at university.
The star, real name Grace Eleanor Keeling, appeared on Paul Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast and told how a police officer said there was ‘no point’ in reporting the incident afterwards, saying one of the reasons was because she was ‘flirting’ with her attacker.
She said:[The officer] said, “I think it’s best to leave it. It’s your choice, but if I were you, I wouldn’t do it.” And then it took me to be completely like it has been for ten years now, but it took me that long to completely think, no, that was actually very wrong.’
Grace said he offered her a lift to work, but things turned sinister when instead of going to the office, he drove to a deserted park where he demanded oral sex before later locking her in a room and raping her again.
GK Barry has revealed it took her ten years to realize the police were ‘really wrong’ to discourage her from reporting her attacker when she was raped as a teenager
The I’m A Celebrity star, 27, who rose to fame on TikTok, bravely spoke out about being raped by an older man she reported to during a week’s work experience in her second year at university (pictured as a teenager)
Speaking to Paul, she said: “I want to talk about something important and it will help at least one person, but it’s taken me so long to completely say, no, that was actually very wrong and this is the only podcast where I’ll talk about it…
‘[The attacker] said, “Yes, come in.” So I was like, “Okay, okay.” And then he basically raped me in there.”
Recounting what happened when she worked up the courage to report him, Grace said:[The female police officer] just says, “Look, since it’s been so long, you didn’t report it and you were honest and said you flirted with him in the beginning…
‘There’s just no point in reporting it. Um, I think it’s best to leave it alone. It’s your choice, but if I were you I wouldn’t do it’.
She admitted that she had finally seen the error of the situation: “And then it took me doing it like it has been for ten years now, but it took me that long to completely think, no, that was actually very wrong. Yes. But it took a very long time.’
Pointing out the police’s glaring error, Paul said, “I think the most important thing to point out is because I heard you say what the police officer said…
‘Why you shouldn’t report it because you were flirting. Yes. I think it is very important to emphasize that flirting is not consent.’
The star, real name Grace Eleanor Keeling, appeared on Paul Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast and told how a police officer said there was ‘no point’ in reporting the incident afterwards because ‘she was flirting’ with her attacker.
Grace warned about the misconceptions about sexual assault, saying: “When I thought about rape, I thought it was a man jumping at you in a dark alley and aggressively knocking you to the ground and raping you. I thought that was rape…
“And when it came to someone I knew who started being nice to me, that’s when I thought, I’m not doing that. That just confused me because I was never taught that either…
‘You don’t learn that, especially when I was in school. So that’s kind of why I wanted to put it in, because rape can come in so many forms. It could come from one of your best friends. Yes.’
After her ordeal, a terrified Grace continued her work experience and on the last day he sent the rest of the staff home, took her into a room, locked it and raped her.
She said at the time that she ‘blamed herself’ and felt the work experience was a ‘make or break’ moment as she had to do an extra year at university after failing her GCSEs.
