#BeenRapedNeverReported
October 31, 2014
A new hashtag, #BeenRapedNeverReported, became a trending topic late Thursday on Twitter, and spread to Instagram and Facebook. Survivors of rape have been using social media to share their stories. The hashtag was second among trending topics in Canada and the third in the US - with around 400 tweets worldwide per hour. According to the Huffington Post, the trend was started by Antonia Zerbisias, a writer for The Toronto Star. Zerbisias started by sharing her experience, stating her support for Canadian actress Lucy DeCoutere, who has accused former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi of assault. Other users were quick to join and share their own experiences. Within three hours, #BeenRapedNeverReported had been tweeted around 3,469 times by noon CET Friday, and more than 12,000 times in the past day, according to social analytics site Topsy. The hashtag is being used mostly in the US and Canada, but tweets have also been sent from Australia, Africa and East Asia as well, according to this map.