Lena Dunham has openly discussed the traumatic event of being raped during her college years, shedding light on the emotional impact it had on her.

At the Variety Power of Women Gala, Dunham revealed: “When I was raped, I felt powerless. I felt as though my worth had been defined by another person.”

She highlighted the significance of rape survivors recognizing their own self-worth. “I received a message that my body was not mine and my choices didn’t matter,” she explained.

“It took me years to understand that my worth wasn’t connected to the assault, and the voices saying I deserved it were just illusions and deceitful.”

“As a feminist and a survivor of s-xual assault, my ultimate aim is to utilize my experiences, my platform, and indeed, my privilege, to challenge stigma and provide a voice for other survivors.”

Dunham initially shared her story of being raped in her 2014 memoir, Not That Kind of Girl.

In the book, she detailed how she was intoxicated and under the influence of Xanax and cocaine at a college party the night she was assaulted.

During the incident, Dunham remembered that she had not consented to s-x, nor had she consented to not using a condom when she discovered that he had removed it during their encounter.

She wrote:

“I think…? the condom’s…? In the tree?” I mumbled in a daze.

“Oh,” he responded, as if he were as surprised as I was.

“He reached for it as if to put it back on, but I had already gotten up, stumbling towards my couch, grabbing the nearest thing resembling clothing.”

“I told him he should leave, tossing his hoodie and boots out the door along with him.

“The next morning, I soaked in a shallow bath for thirty minutes, feeling like a character in one of those coming-of-age films.”