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A young woman has filmed herself being 'raped' by a stranger who she invited into her home for a shocking art project to explore female self-objectification

Sophia Hewson, from Melbourne, Australia, planned the three-minute scene as part of her work to explore female self-objectification.

In the the video, the 31-year-old artist can be seen inviting a stranger into her New York apartment to participate in the project.

Hewson said the encounter was an attempt to challenge the "assumption that man's power is insurmountable."

(Image: Facebook/Sophia Hewson)

In a statement Hewson said: "Central to this work is also the idea that rape is more than an unwanted sexual act, that it is the foundation for the entire institution of the patriarchy, and hence it is the crucial battleground for dismantling male power.

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“If rape is the ultimate weapon of male-domination, then anything outside of being permanently impacted by the experience, undermines male weaponry.”

Throughout the video the camera remains focused on Hewson's face.

The face of the man, referred to in the video as Bob, is not in view but his hands and arms are.

(Image: Facebook/Sophia Hewson)

Hewson said: “The raped woman is nearly always depicted with her face downcast and her eyes averted.”

By filming the “rape”, Hewson says she is owning how the raped woman is perceived.

(Image: Facebook/Sophia Hewson)

Rather than the video representing how she says society depicts raped women - eyes downcast, broken and shivering – her staged encounter shows her looking back out at the viewer from the experience “as a subject, not an object”.