Dear women on Twitter hoping to avoid rape, @divadoll123 has some advice for you:

"LiberalTips2AvoidRape Tell him you don't believe in guns and don't have one, but you called the cops and they'll arrive in 12 minutes."

These words have been retweeted 496 times, at time of writing, but something tells us @divadoll123 is not being entirely unsarky, instead using the trending hashtag to make a political point.

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This tweet is just one examples of how the hashtag, which began as a collection of bad rape jokes and victim-blaming views has morphed into a wider row between conservative and liberal American on the one hand; and between different factions of the Republican party on the other.

@flute100p tweets, "As a Republican, the #liberaltips2avoidrape hashtag is a disgrace to our party. If this doesn't scream reform, I don't know what else does.

@bridoc writes: "The fact that Republicans think #LiberalTips2AvoidRape is a funny joke helps explain why they lost Senate seats in the last election.

Other tweets range from the offensive to the offended:

@sosayscassie: If you see someone walking alone at night, don't rape them.

@Bidenshairplugs: Go for the Democrat politician look. You definitely won't be raped.

@APBBlue: "Oh yes. Making jokes about rape is HILARIOUS. Maybe y'all should see the chats I take on the rape crisis hotline