An outpouring of rage, solidarity and strength

During the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, I impulsively and angrily composed a 140-character tweet with the hashtag #BeenRapedNeverReported.

I tweeted that I had been raped and never reported it. I tweeted about sexual abuse at the hands of my grandfather and how the police didn’t believe me.

Suddenly and ironically, Ghomeshi and his narcissistic ways were drowned out by a tsunami of rape victims’ voices from around the globe.

Thousands, if not millions, of women — and some men — used the hashtag to compress years of pain and shame into a short, powerful statement. There was no need — or space — to go into the gory details or name names. It was enough, it seemed, to just name the crime.

We witnessed a virtual outpouring of pent-up rage and with it, a gathering storm of solidarity and strength. “If you’re nervous to post to #BeenRapedNeverReported, yes it’s terrifying, but equally liberating and powerful. Set the shame free,” one woman tweeted.

Since that initial tweet a month ago, the hashtag has been translated into French and Spanish and many other languages.

I have spoken to news outlets in France, England, the United States and across Canada, with women brought into the discussion from India, Pakistan and Kenya.

People still not ready to put their stories on social media have emailed me to share their pain. Some for the first time. And they feel relieved. Lighter.

Others, like a father whose daughter was recently raped during her first year at university but whose assailants were believed over her, are drowning in despair over a system that fails women.

“It’s no wonder women stay quiet,” he wrote. “I don’t know what to tell her.”