#Beenrapedneverreported Takes Off As Rape Survivors Share Experiences Online

The hashtag #BeenRapedNeverReported has been among the top five trends in Canada and the US today (31.10.14), with more than 400 tweets per hour. A look at the trend that allows survivors of rape to share their stories.



A new hashtag,, became a trending topic late Thursday (30.10.2014) 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 with sharing her experience, stating her support for Canadian actress Lucy DeCoutere, who has accused former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi of rape. Other users were quick to join and share their own experiences. Within three hours, #BeenRapedNeverReported had been tweeted around 3,469 times Friday(31.10.14) by 12: 00 CET, and more than 12 thousand times in the past day, according to social analytics site Topsy. That hashtag in being used mostly in the US and Canada, but tweets have been sent from Australia, Africa and east Asia as well, according to this map.