Young woman attacked by men 'told by Austrian police to be less provocative'

'At first I was scared, but now I'm more angry than anything'

Westbahnhof train station in Vienna at night. A woman has said police told her not to go out at night (Google Street View)

A young woman attacked by a group of men has claimed police told her to dress less provocatively, not travel late in the evening and dye her hair.

The 20-year-old, identified only by her first name Sabrina, said no one came to her aid when four men stole her handbag and threw her to the ground in Vienna.

She said the city's police then told her to dress less provocatively when she went to report what had happened.

"At first I was scared, but now I'm more angry than anything. After the attack they told me that women shouldn't be alone on the streets after 8pm," she told Heute.

"And they also gave me other advice, telling me I should dye my hair dark and also not dress in such a provocative way.

"That is a massive insult."

Sabrina, who is a student studying theatre, said she was standing at the platform on Vienna's main Westbanhof station when a man speaking in a foreign language approached her and ran his fingers through her hair.

Despite telling him to leave, he disappeared only to return with three companions who stole Sabrina's handbag and her debit cards.

The group then pushed her to the ground in an attack which left her needing hospital treatment for bruising to her head, spine and hips.

It is not the first time Austrian police have appeared to place the onus on women to be safe, with Vienna's chief of police Gerhard Pürstl telling women in January after sex attacks in Germany not to go out alone in the evening.

He said women should avoid "suspicious-looking areas."

Meanwhile Sabrina said no one on the train platform helped her or tried to intervene in the attack by the men, who she said she understood to be from Afghanistan.

"The police told me that attacks are now a daily routine. And it's going to get worse," she said.

Support for Austria's far-right, anti-immigration Freedom Party has surged in popularity in Austria since the country took in asylum applications from refugees fleeing wars in the Middle East.

Around 11 sex attacks happen every day in the country, according to figures released by the interior ministry in March 2016.