Alleged rape victim's posts banned by Instagram
Social networking site Instagram has banned a post of an American woman who live-blogged her own rape ordeal on the site.
Amber Amour, 27, who was in South Africa to promote her “Stop Rape, Educate” campaign shared on her Instagram account that she was raped in Cape Town while sharing a shower with a friend.
One of the pictures the 27-year-old posted was taken immediately after she was raped.
However, Instagram said, “Amber we removed your post because it doesn't follow our community guidelines.”
In response, Amour wrote on her Instagram page that she will not be silenced.
"You deleted the caption documenting the rape from my page but guess what, that shit has gone viral. It's all over the internet so whoever was behind the deleting of that honestly did nothing.
"Survivors of rape are called liars and frauds every day! I find it absolutely appalling that the caption was deleted. I will not be silenced. I will keep speaking my truth."
She said initially only the caption had been deleted, but after she reposted it, the entire post was deleted.
On Thursday, Amour said that she needed to go public because it was the only way she would get justice.
The activist lodged a complaint with police, but said she shared the experience with her thousands of followers because she did not believe officers would take her case seriously.
She told News24 she had received hate mail by the thousands. People had blamed her and told her she deserved what happened.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut said a man was arrested on November 30.
He was granted bail in the Cape Town Regional Court and police were investigating further. It was not immediately clear when he would return to court.
(Photo: Instagram)