Actress and Girls creator Lena Dunham has spoken out about being raped while in college, describing it as “a painful experience, emotionally and physically”.

In a chapter from her new book, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”, 28-year-old Dunham speaks out about the incident, which occurred during her time at a US university.

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“At the time that it happened, it wasn’t something that I was able to be honest about,” Dunham told NPR.

“I was at a party, drunk, waiting for attention — and somehow that felt like such a shameful starting-off point that I didn’t know how to reconcile what had come after. But I knew that it wasn’t right and I knew in some way that this experience had been forced on me.”

“When I shared it with my best friend and she used the term ‘you were raped’ at the time, I sort of laughed at her and thought like, you know, what an ambulance-chasing drama queen.

“I later felt this incredible gratitude for her for giving me that, giving me that gift of that kind of certainty that she had. I think that a lot of times when I felt at my lowest about it, those words in some way actually lifted me up because I felt that somebody was justifying the pain of my experience.”

Dunham admitted that the rape held her back from enjoying college life and made her avoid alcohol.

“I basically didn’t have a drink for the rest of college, I really removed myself from that world”.

While the actress admitted that spent a long time feeling ashamed and embarrassed, she said writing about the rape had helped her move forward.

“I spent so much time ashamed, I don’t feel that way anymore. And it’s not because of my job, it’s not because of my boyfriend, it’s not because of feminism — though all those things helped — it’s because I told the story. And I still feel like myself and I feel less alone.”

Buy Not That Kind Of Girl here