“There was literally no security keeping men away from women.”

Scottish women have come forward with horror stories of sexual assault in homeless hotels.

The stories emerged after a petition was launched to create single sex safe spaces for women experiencing homelessness.

The petition was launched just ahead of findings that showed a 40% increase in rapes and sexual assaults in Glasgow.

The petition highlighted the horror story of one woman, who reported on social media that she was raped by a man who impersonated a hotel worker.

The woman posted: “In the first hotel I was put in, a man posed as a member of staff, so I let him in. He said he had teabags and sugar for me, and could he check my toilet was working. I let him in. He raped me and left.”

Another post stated: “Over the past months, I’ve stayed in three separate hostels. I have been threatened, assaulted, and robbed. I’ve had no sense of security or safety.

“There was literally no security keeping men away from women. Pimps hang around outside the front door at night and grab you while you leave or enter the building.

“The men preyed on the women like we were meat.

“Addicts are bribed into sex. I saw it in all three hostels I stayed in. We need more women-only shelters. The women in these hostels are free game. It’s disgusting.”

Another woman said a man walked in on her shower because the door lock was faulty.

She said: “It was a mixed sex corridor (I was the only woman). I didn’t know the shower room door lock was dodgy until a man walked in on me post- shower. I paid for that accommodation.

“It was so frightening. The moment when I realised he was opening the door and there was nothing I could do.”

Lucy Hunter Blackburn, of the influential feminist consultancy, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, posted her outrage on X over the plight of homeless women.

She posted: “Homeless women are routinely being put into mixed-sex emergency accommodation with a huge ratio of men to women. It’s unsafe. I’ve spoken to at least one woman sitting out on the street who said she’s rather sleep on the street than use these places. Please sign.” The petition is here.