[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”164305″]A US woman says it has taken her 30 years to convince people that veteran US comedian Bill Cosby raped her.

Barbara Bowman, now 47, has written an opinion piece in The Washington Post asking why it took three decades for her claims Cosby raped her in the mid-1980s to be believed.

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Bowman is one of 13 women who have accused Cosby of abuse in the past 12 years, but she says her accusations have only been listened to because of comedian Hannibal Buress, who called Cosby a rapist in his stand-up show last month.

Cosby has denied all of the allegations against him and his lawyer says he will not dignify “decade-old, discredited” claims of sexual abuse with a response.

In a statement posted online on Sunday, attorney John Schmitt said the fact that the allegations are being repeated does not make them true.

While Bowman has been outspoken about the alleged rape for more than 10 years, the recent claim from Buress that Cosby was indeed a rapist has given her some sense that the world is finally listening to her.

Barbara Bowman. Photo: pavetheway.net

“Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times,” Bowman wrote in the Washington Post.

“In one case, I blacked out after having dinner and one glass of wine at his New York City brownstone, where he had offered to mentor me and discuss the entertainment industry.

“When I came to, I was in my panties and a man’s t-shirt, and Cosby was looming over me.”

She claims the 77-year-old star of The Cosby Show, who’s career centred around his wholesome dad image, assaulted her on several other occasions but she has never been able to get anyone to believe her.

Cosby also allegedly assaulted her in an Atlantic City hotel where she screamed as he pinned her down.

“I’ll never forget the clinking of his belt buckle as he struggled to pull his pants off,” Ms Bowman wrote in the piece.

The original cast of The Cosby Show. Photo: Supplied

“Only after a man, Hannibal Buress, called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did the public outcry begin in earnest.

“While I am grateful for the new attention to Cosby’s crimes, I must ask my own questions: Why wasn’t I believed?”

“Why didn’t I get the same reaction of shock and revulsion when I originally reported it? Why was I, a victim of sexual assault, further wronged by victim blaming when I came forward? The women victimised by Bill Cosby have been talking about his crimes for more than a decade. Why didn’t our stories go viral?”

This week the comedian tried to turn his fortunes around when his team asked for fans to turn a photo of the star into an internet meme.

The stunt backfired with many people using the opportunity to call out the actor for his alleged assaults on women.

A series of photos containing critical messages about the actor have been circulated on Twitter under the hashtag #cosbymemes.