Former The Runaways star Jackie Fox has thanked fans for their support after opening up about her rape ordeal at the hands of the group's manager and producer Kim Fowley.
The bass player recalled the incident at a New Year's Eve party in 1975 to The Huffington Post earlier this year, following Fowley's death, and she admits she had no idea her story would "touch such a nerve".
The article hit the internet last week and caused quite a stir as Fox's former band mates attempted to distance themselves from claims they sat and watched the rape unfold without doing anything.
Now, Fox has taken to Twitter to address the fall-out from the article, writing, "I wondered whether anyone would even read it, or if they did, whether they would care. The response took me completely by surprise.
"This was not an easy story for me to tell. I had to go over the details of the worst night of my life, not once but repeatedly."
She also compliments the article's writer, Jason Cherkis, for his "sensitivity" as he researched her rape claims, adding her and members of her family "opened our homes and our files, without reservation. We gave Jason a glimpse into some of our most private moments, as well as some of our deepest... shame."
Fox continues, "Jason spoke to people I hadn't thought about in years - people who didn't like me, as well as those who did. He spoke to every known living person who was there the night of my rape, save one. Jason contacted friends I'd lost touch with after I was raped, friends I've missed terribly. I had serious second thoughts about going public several months in: 'How would disclosure affect my family? How would it change how my friends saw me? Would I be known forever after as that girl from that band, who got raped?'"
But she admits not all the feedback she has received following the release of the article has been positive: "I thought I had prepared myself for the haters - I was wrong. I was shocked by some of the vitriol; more so by the fact that nearly all of it came from other women. But their voices were drowned by a chorus of support from women I respect and admire - women like Kathy Valentine, Maureen Herman and Jane Wiedlin.
"And then there are the private messages. The sheer number of people who have written to tell me their own stories of rape and abuse has been heart breaking. Many have said they've never told anyone about their rape or abuse, or that the people they told didn't believe them."
WENN.com