Rape gang victim: 'I agreed to meet Jess Phillips two months ago - but I've heard nothing since'

Reynolds was subjected to multiple gang rapes over five years in Cumbria, Barrow-in-Furness.

Speaking about her experiences, Reynolds said: "I was taken off the streets in broad daylight, I was drugged, I was held hostage in takeaways."

"It was multiple gang rapes over the space of five years. It was a living nightmare, it really was. I have no idea how I got out of it."

Her abusers were eventually jailed after "14 years of getting away with it".

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• SHOCK map exposes FIVE urgent grooming gang hotspots being ignored by Labour - is YOUR area one?
• Barrow victim tells GB News ‘I was arrested and silenced’ in HORROR rape gang ordeal
• ‘That’s racist!’ GB News star tears into ex-officer in row over police force’s ‘anti-white’ policy

Reynolds warned that dismissing survivors creates a harmful cycle that discourages others from speaking out.

"My message would be, victims need to be taken more seriously because we have lived a life of hell," she told GB News.

"The more we're not taken seriously and mocked and not believed, the less likely other people that have gone through it are going to speak out too."

"People are going to look at us and think, 'if she's not to be believed, why would I be?' It's a rippling effect of just downright negativity."

Reynolds was first exploited at the age of 13 and repeatedly drugged and gang-raped by a group she became involved with.

In 2018, at 17, she reported her abuse to police. The following day, she was arrested for blackmail - an accusation later dropped.

"I feel like I tried to reach out to authorities but I was pretty much silenced," she said.

The CPS never took her case to court, despite one of her abusers now being convicted of more than 40 sexual offences.

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has recently faced questions about the government's approach to tackling grooming gangs.

Earlier this year, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced "victim-centred, locally-led inquiries" would take place in five areas including Oldham.

However, this week Phillips did not provide an update on these local reviews.

Instead, she announced local authorities would be able to access a £5m fund to support work they wanted to carry out.

Cooper denied the government was "watering down" its response, stating: "What we're doing is increasing the action we're taking on this vile crime."

GB News has approached Jess Phillips for comment regarding Reynolds' claims.

Reynolds expressed her lack of faith in authorities, saying: "I have no faith whatsoever in any kind of authorities."

"From my personal point of view, if the authorities had listened it could have been stopped a lot sooner," she added.

She said authorities recently contacted her about reopening her case after seven years, but stated: "I have no faith in them."