British diplomats failed to assist a woman who had just been raped by a military officer in Egypt when she came to them pleading for help, a report has found.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been forced to apologise and pay compensation after being found guilty of "maladministration and injustice" by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
The report found that officials had failed to help the woman "when she was at her most vulnerable".
The woman was attacked in the Sinai region The British woman was attacked at a checkpoint while travelling in the Sinai region in May 2011, three months after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
A man in plain clothes, who she believed to be a military officer, told her she would not be able to continue her journey until the next day then took her to a place where he said she could sleep before raping her.
When she contacted officials at the British Embassy in Cairo they failed to explain clearly how they could help her.
The report strongly criticised the embassy staff's failure to accompany her to report the attack and the fact they ignored her fears she could be arrested or even killed if she made a complaint against a military officer to the police, who were under the control of the military.
In addition they did not arrange a medical examination or offer to accompany her to a hospital and had no knowledge of the availability of a treatment which can prevent HIV infection after the virus has entered the body.
The report said: "Ms M was far away from home, she had been through a terrifying ordeal, and the FCO were the only authority she could approach for help. She should have been able to rely on them to fulfil their role and assist her when she was at her most vulnerable."
Parliamentary Ombudsman Dame Julie Mellor found the woman had been failed When Ms M went to report the attack to the tourist police she found herself in a room with a number of armed plain-clothes officers – a situation she described as "extremely intimidating".
Later, when interviewed by an officer she was asked to re-enact her ordeal, including being forced to repeat the positions into which her attacker had forced her.
Ms M complained to the FCO about the way she had been treated with "impatience, rudeness and a serious lack of sensitivity" by its staff.
However, her complaint was initially rejected until the human rights organisation Redress and then the ombudsman became involved.
Simon Fraser, the Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service, said they had "unreservedly" apologised to the woman and taken steps to ensure there was no repeat of her treatment.
They have paid £1,000 in compensation to the woman.
Ombudsman Dame Julie Mellor said: "This is a prime example of how one individual coming forward to complain can lead to significant changes."
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