Actress and supermodel Cara Delevingne has opened up about why she was reluctant to report sexual abuse she had suffered, saying that she “didn’t want to publicly ruin someone’s life”.

Delevingne’s words come in the context of the recent explosion of the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, which came about in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s suggestion that women who had been sexually abused in the past ought to have reported it to the authorities sooner.

That, in turn, happened in regard to Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a number of women, in some cases dating back to when he was a teenager in the 1970s.

Cara DelevingneCara Delevingne has joined in the #WhyIDidntReport conversation

Since then, actresses like Ashley Judd, Alyssa Milano and Mira Sorvino have spoken out about alleged sexual assault they suffered using the hashtag, and British star Delevingne became the latest to speak out this week.

“Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life,” she said.

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When the 26 year old first shared what happened to her, she didn't name her alleged attacker, but in October 2017, Delevingne identified the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, accused of similar misconduct by around 80 other women and who is currently facing rape charges in New York City.

In an Instagram post at the time, she claimed that Weinstein made advances toward her in a hotel room, after asking her to kiss another woman.

“I was so hesitant about speaking out. I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong,” Delevingne explained. “I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.”

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