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The Bad Romance singer says she was "too ashamed and afraid" to confide in her family, including her grandmother and aunt about the attack she sustained at 19 years old.

However, following her performance of Til It Happens To You – from the rape documentary The Hunting Ground – at Sunday's Academy Awards, her relatives have told her how "proud" they were of her for being so brave and speaking out.

She posted a snap of Ronnie and Sheri on Instagram to her 15 million followers and wrote: "My grandmother and my Aunt Sheri both called me the day after the Oscars because I never told them I was a survivor.

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"I was too ashamed. Too afraid. And it took me a long time to even admit it to myself because I'm Catholic and I knew it was evil but I thought it was my fault.

"I thought it was my fault for ten years. The morning after the Oscars when I talked to my grandmother Ronnie, with tears in her eyes I could hear them welling through the phone she said to me: 'My darling granddaughter, I've never been more proud of you than I am today.' [sic]"

She continued: "Something I have kept a secret for so long that I was more ashamed of than anything-- became the thing the women in my life were the most proud of."

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Gaga then urged others in her situation to "speak up" about their ordeals.

"And not just any women, the ones I look up to the most. #BeBrave #speakup #tilithappenstoyou [sic]."