Courageous woman from Wiltshire on epic US cycling journey for Rape Crisis
She's cycling solo 4,300 miles in under 60 days!
A woman from Wiltshire is cycling 4,300 miles across the United States in under sixty days, all to raise money for a charity that helped her during an extremely vulnerable time.
24-year-old Sarah Osborn, from Market Lavington, on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain, is raising funds for Rape Crisis England & Wales - a charity that supports victims of rape and sexual abuse.
Sarah's cycling odyssey began on the East Coast in Yorktown, Virginia, and is taking her through jaw-dropping landscapes including national parks, mountain ranges, and farmland, culminating in Portland, Oregon on the West Coast of the USA.
Throughout her expedition, she will carry all necessary supplies, including a GPS phone so even her family at home can track where she is. That's because she realised early on she would have to take precautions to make sure she felt safe on her solo journey.
"As a woman, I am more at risk of being harmed, and I have to take my personal safety seriously, I can't just ignore it. But I can chose to no let those risks stop me.
"I've not met a single other woman cycling across America, or even parts of America, and hopefully that will change... But a big part (of this challenge) is that I want to show you can be aware of all the risks and live your life anyway, you just have to take it into account."
The timing of Sarah's epic endeavour serves as a poignant reminder of ongoing challenges facing women's rights.
Recent developments, such as the erosion of federal protections for abortion rights in the USA, highlight the continued hostility and inequality endured by women.
In the UK, headlines covering the employment of perpetrators within the Met Police show this is an issue close to home too.
Sarah aims to use her journey as a platform to emphasise the importance of preserving and advancing women's rights, urging wider society not to take progress for granted.
She told Greatest Hits Radio about her personal experience as a survivor and how support she received from Rape Crisis was invaluable to her recovery.
"Having the police turn around and say 'No, we're not doing this (issuing charges), you don't have enough evidence' is really hard, because it goes against every fibre in my being.
"But having this other organisation with people I connected with and who understand what's happened (to me), go 'We believe you, you're safe' was absolutely integral to me recovering."
Anyone interested can help Sarah's cause by visiting her fundraising page here.