Rape survivor calls for public awareness campaign to make face covering exemptions clearer

In this interview rape survivor, Georgina Fallows, tells Yahoo UK how wearing a face mask triggers traumatic flashbacks of her attack.“I was just walking home at night when I was grabbed on the street and to stop me from screaming my rapist put his hand over my mouth,” she says.

“So having anything covering my face feels like I’m back there.”The 30-year-old solicitor from London suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has had to be hospitalised on several occasions after wearing a face covering.“For me, wearing a face mask is not an option, unless I want to be restrained and sedated,” she says.But that hasn’t stopped Fallows from being verbally abused for not wearing a mask in public.She has now joined forces with mental health and disabilities charities in calling for a public awareness campaign and official badges to make clear that those, like her, suffering from “invisible” conditions are exempt from the rules.Watch the full interview for Fallows’ plea for greater public understanding about face mask exemptions.