Cara Delevingne has become the latest celebrity to join the thousands of women sharing their #WhyIDidntReport stories.
The hashtag has risen to prominence in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court.
Mr Kavanaugh, who has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by at least two women, is due to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
The alleged offences happened decades ago and Mr Trump questioned why charges had not been filed immediately, “if the attack… was as bad as she (the alleged victim) says”.
Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didn’t want to publicly ruin someone’s life, even though they privately ruined mine #WhyIDidntReport
— Cara Delevingne (@Caradelevingne) September 27, 2018
Celebrities including Padma Lakshmi, Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd have all tweeted their experiences of alleged sexual assault using #WhyIDidntReport, and have now been joined by Delevingne.
Writing on Twitter, the British actress and model said: “Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didn’t want to publicly ruin someone’s life, even though they privately ruined mine #WhyIDidntReport.”
Delevingne, 26, did not name her alleged attacker in her post, but in October 2017 went public with allegations against the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In an Instagram post, she said Weinstein, who is now facing rape charges in New York, made advances towards her in a hotel room after asking her to kiss another woman.
She said the encounter happened after meeting with the movie producer and a film director in a hotel lobby.
Delevingne added: “I was so hesitant about speaking out….I didn’t want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong.
“I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.”
American actress Lakshmi said she was raped when she was 16 but did not come forward because “the victim is treated like the perpetrator”.
The second time I was 16 years old and a virgin. He was my boyfriend. "Date rape" wasn't discussed in the 80's. I was horrified and ashamed. #WhyIDidntReport
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) September 21, 2018
Oscar-winner Sorvino said she reported an alleged assault when she was a teenager but “nothing came of it” and she later felt “I wasn’t important enough to make a big deal over”.
#WhyIDidntReport because the first time I did for a serious sexual assault as a teenager nothing came of it, and later I felt that I wasn’t important enough to make a big deal over. I was wrong.
— Mira Sorvino (@MiraSorvino) September 22, 2018