Rape could be regarded as a taboo topic by many but a woman from America has taken it further by 'live-blogging' the aftermath of her alleged rape ordeal on her Instagram account.
Amber Amour, 27, had uploaded a picture of herself crying, supposedly after being raped by a man who had invited her to take a hot shower together, according to her image caption.
The Daily Mail reported that Amour was in Cape Town, South Africa to promote her 'Stop Rape. Educate' campaign in November last year when she allegedly met her attacker, a man named Shakir.
On her first Instagram post relating to her alleged rape, Amour had also added that Shakir "was desperately trying to get with" her.
She added: "I kissed him once but he seemed drunk so I told him it was bad timing, I had already met someone."
"I'm here, alone, and any DNA has been wiped away in the shower. The South African police will just roll their eyes when I walk in," she continued.
She quickly explained that she had been sick for two days prior to the day the incident took place and she had decided to return to the youth hostel where she had previously stayed.
Amour describes herself as "an artist, activist, globetrotter, motivational speaker, and sexual assault survivor" on her official website, StopRapeEducate.org. Her biography also included another incident where she was sexually assaulted by her roommate back in September 2014 when she was living in New York City.
It was also that same year when she had begun "organising community events" and taking part in social issues such as homelessness, according to her website.
She recently opened up to international women magazine, Marie Claire, on her decision to 'blog' about the alleged assault in real time.
Amour told the magazine in an interview when she knew that she "couldn't keep what had happened a secret."
"Here I was, telling survivors every single day that they should speak up... I knew I had to practise what I preached. So the first thing I did was take a picture and write a post, describing what had happened," Amour said.
"It was almost an intuitive thing. I was still in the bathroom - in the crime scene. I don't even think I'd stood up. I just typed and typed."
Since her first confession of the incident, Amour continued to 'live-blog' by posting updates on her Facebook page on the subsequent steps she took after the alleged rape.
She took a picture while she was at a hospital with a "rape kit" in front of her knees.
"Your messages pushed me to take action and to stand up for myself and for all rape survivors," Amour wrote.
"Dealing with rape is hard enough but the aftermath is often even more traumatic but I did this for you and I did this for me. The US Embassy and the South African police are super supportive and he may be arrested as soon as this week."
On Jan 2, Amour posted an update on her Facebook page stating that the man who allegedly raped her had been arrested. She had previously informed her followers, about three days after her first social media post, that she had decided to file a police report and that the US Embassy had been there for her "every step of the way."
Her alleged attacker was released on bail for 1000Rand (S$89) but Amour added that she would not be dropping the case. - Asiaone
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