Activist, Amber Amour, who live blogged the harrowing details about her rape on social media minutes after the sexual assault has revealed why she was compelled to post the intimate details minutes after the attack.
The 27-year-old was in Cape Town, South Africa, promoting her 'Stop Rape. Educate' campaign in November when she was allegedly attacked by a man named Shakir after she agreed to take a shower with him.
After she was raped, Amber took to Instagram to post a photo of herself crying and a message detailing the horrific sexual assault. She told Maire Claire UK;
'Here I was, telling survivors every single day that they should speak up... I knew I had to practice what I preached. So the first thing I did was take a picture and write a post, describing what had happened.
It was almost an intuitive thing,' she added. 'I was still in the bathroom - in the crime scene. I don't even think I'd stood up. I just typed and typed.'
In her candid post, Amber explained that she had returned to a hostel that she previously stayed at after a two day bout with food poisoning to leave a note for her friend Nick when she ran into Shakir who was trying to 'get with' her.
She said she kissed him once, but claimed she had met someone and left because he 'seemed drunk'.
However, when he followed her upstairs and asked her to join him in the shower she agreed.
'I said yes because the water at my current hostel is pretty cold and after two days of being sick, I just really wanted a hot shower,' she explained. 'As soon as I got in the bathroom, he forced me to my knees. I said "stop!" but he just got more violent.'
Amber went on to detail the sexual assault that caused her to pass out. When she awoke, She said he came back to the shower.
I have all those f****d up feelings that we get after rape...shame, disgust, suffering,' she wrote. '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. Feeling sicker than ever now.'
Ironically, the only reason Amber was in South Africa was to promote her ‘Stop Rape. Educate’ campaign, which she started after she was attacked in New York.
Amber then posted two more pictures, one on the way to the hospital and one of her on a hospital bed with a ‘rape kit’ in front of her.
Speaking to Marie Claire magazine, Amber said: ‘I immediately knew that I 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.’
'I tell you guys to speak up every single day and I know that I need to practice what I preach,' she added. 'It is so incredibly hard, though, but having you all here for me makes all the difference.'
While in the exam room, Amber posted a photo of her rape kit while revealing that many people have blamed her for her rape because she agreed to shower with Shakir.
'No matter what a person does, it is not an invitation for rape,' she argued in the photo caption. 'It doesn't matter if I kissed him. It doesn't matter if he was drunk. It doesn't matter if I said yes to a shower.
'I never said he could get violent with me. I never said he could make me bleed. I never said he could rape me. But still, that's how the scene went down.'
Six weeks later, Amber still remains in South Africa where the police investigation is still ongoing.
She says the man who raped her was arrested but has been released on bail and the case will continue on March 29.
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