In support of the victim in the notorious Stanford case, Lena Dunham and her three Girls co-stars have released a video urging people to acknowledge the severity and shocking regularity with which sex crimes are committed.

Standing alongside each other in footage Lena uploaded to Twitter this week, the four actresses highlighted horrifying statistics relating to rape and sexual abuse.

After explaining that one in five women will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime and one in four girls will be sexually abused before the age of 18, Allison Williams said: "It's reality."

"So why is our default reaction as a society to disbelieve?" Zosia Mamet, who plays Shoshanna, asked. "What if we chose to turn towards those in need instead of away?"

Sharing the video with her 4.68 million followers last night, Lena wrote: "I dedicate this to the brave survivor in the Stanford case who has given so much to change the conversation."

Take a look at this.

I dedicate this to the brave survivor in the Stanford case who has given so much to change the conversation. https://t.co/KMOJUxvPu0

— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) June 8, 2016

Most of us have, by now, read the victim impact statement written by a woman who was sexually assaulted behind a dumpster on Stanford University campus in January 2015.

Speaking directly to her rapist at sentencing, she pleaded with him to understand the severity of his crime and asked that he accept responsibility for his actions, but while her words resonated with millions worldwide, they failed to make the intended impact on Brock Turner – her rapist.

Blaming alcohol and a party culture for his decision to sexually assault an unconscious woman, Turner insisted his life has been equally impacted by the – as his father has now infamously dubbed the crime – "20 minutes of action".

With the public lauding Turner's victim for her eloquence and dignity in the face of such horror, she has chosen to address the controversy which has been ignited in light of her rapist's incredibly lenient six-month sentence.

Speaking on her behalf, the case prosecutor said: "I remain anonymous, yes to protect my identity. But it is also a statement, that all of these people are fighting for someone they don't know."

"That's the beauty of it. I don't need labels, categories, to prove I am worthy of respect, to prove that I should be listened to," she continued.

"I am coming out to you as simply a woman wanting to be heard," she said. "Yes there is plenty more I'd like to tell you about me. For now, I am every woman."

A petition has been established in order to remove the judge who handed down the sentence.

We're always up for the craic and we've absolutely no bother having the p*ss taken out of us, but when it comes to certain things us Irish definitely have a breaking point as one UK magazine recently learned.

Having made the mistake of including the Republic of Ireland in a graphic which debates whether or not the UK should leave the European Union, Irish readers went to TOWN on Mixmag and reminded the publication that the Republic is not in fact part of the United Kingdom.

Having been schooled on the Republic's political history via Twitter and Facebook, the music mag's editor reached out to irate readers, and we'll be honest, they nailed the apology.

Acknowledging the professional failing on their part as well as offering a personal insight into the situation, the magazine showed us how to make an apology like an absolute pro.

"Many, many apologies to readers from the Republic of Ireland after our illustration conflated Eire with the United Kingdom," it began in a Facebook post. 

"I can only imagine that we were thinking in terms of visual aesthetics instead of geographical and political reality, but there’s no excuse; as Editor I should have spotted it and corrected it."

"As a Scot of Irish descent living in London I know how important national identity is to all of us in these islands – and to Ireland especially in this of all years."

And the clincher, ladies? They finished with this absolute gem: "Tá brón orm and best of luck at the Euros."

Lads, you're forgiven.

Remember when it was totally OK to publicly shame an entire nation as part of a weather report? Yeah, us neither.

Unfortunately however, the memo never reached News 7 reporter, Josh Massoud, who reported on a series of storms which hit Sydney over the weekend, and inexplicably used it as a platform to get a dig in at the Irish down under.

Reporting on the extensive damage caused by storms in Coogee, Josh shared an image of Coogee beach before taking aim at our friends and family members living in the Australian city.

"Coogee demolished over the weekend and for a pleasant change, the Irish aren't to blame," he posted on both Twitter and Instagram over the weekend.

 

Coogee demolished over the weekend and for a pleasant change the Irish aren't to blame.

A photo posted by Josh Massoud (@joshm1977) on Jun 5, 2016 at 3:24pm PDT

Stunned by the blatant racism exhibited by the journalist, social media users wasted no time having their say on the ill-advised remark.

"Nice to see Aussie journalists thinking casual racism is witty," wrote one member of the public.

"If a similar comment had been made about other nationalities or minorities there would be uproar but here it's OK to insult 100's of 1000's of Irish living here and 4 million more at home."

"So insulting! This is not acceptable. Racism is not funny in any form!" wrote another. "I'm proud to be Irish living in Australia and I've chosen to bring my daughter up here but comments like this from public figures make me want to get the first plane home."

Good one, Josh. You played a blinder with that one…