'My rape payment was cut because I was drunk'

She said today the decision was like saying: "It's my fault I was raped."

The woman, a beauty therapist who believes her drink was spiked, was 25 when she was attacked five years ago after a night out.

She said the ruling by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority was a "slap in the face", adding: "It was just so cruel and unthinking and so wrong because there is nothing you can do to prevent yourself being raped.

"It was like going back to the Seventies, saying, 'She was asking for it'. It is not illegal to go out and have a drink. It is illegal to rape somebody." The standard-award of £11,000 was reduced by 25 per cent in her case to £8,250.

A letter from the CICA told her that "excessive" drinking had been a contributing factor.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "When I read the CICA letter I just had no words. I could not take it in.

"It felt like I was being punished for having the audacity to step up and say, 'I don't think this should have happened to me'. "

Today the organisation admitted it had made a major mistake and said it had cut payouts for 14 other rape victims on the same grounds. It has issued a statement acknowledging it should not have happened in any case and today confirmed that it is not its policy to reduce compensation for rape victims because of alcohol consumption.

A CICA spokesman said: "We have just completed a review of our staff instructions, operating procedures and structure to ensure greater consistency in decision-making."

It is understood that at the centre of the confusion is a clause that says awards in all types of cases can be reduced if alcohol consumption "gave rise to the injury".

Campaigners are calling for the clause to be scrapped. The woman has now won the full £11,000 after launching an appeal. Her solicitor successfully argued that regarding alcohol consumption as a contributing factor in rape cases was unfair because it implied the victim had been responsible.

The woman, whose attacker has never been caught, also complained to the Met about the way her case was investigated. As a result, she received an official apology and two officers were disciplined.

Sandra McNeill, of the Campaign to End Rape, called for an inquiry into the cases dealt with by the CICA, saying: "No woman is responsible for being raped. A man knows what he is doing and it is never the woman's fault."