Lady Gaga receives thank you letter from rape survivors

Lady Gaga has received a thank you letter from rape victims praising the singer for highlighting important issues in her new song.

The Poker Face star wrote new track Til It Happens To You with Diane Warren for a documentary called The Hunting Ground, about sex attacks on college campuses.

Now four young women whose stories are told in the film have written an open letter to Gaga and Warren.

In the note, they thank the stars for shining a light on the problems facing victims.

"The release of your song will have an unparalleled impact on the culture of campuses nationwide," they wrote. "Imagine a survivor who, after hearing your song, no longer feels isolated or alone. Picture that survivor's friend, telling that survivor that it's not her fault... We want to thank you both for having the courage to write and perform this song and for allowing your talent, your music, your lyrics and your voices to tell our stories."

Diane says, "The letter from the survivors from the documentary The Hunting Ground that was sent to Lady Gaga and me made me cry. I am humbled by this brave and beautiful letter and being able to write a song that can not only speak to this cause but can hopefully help bring some healing as well."

Gaga is a survivor of sexual abuse herself. In December (14), she went public with allegations she was assaulted by a music producer when she was 19.

"I wrote a song called Swine. The song is about rape," she told shock jock Howard Stern. "The song is about demoralisation. The song is about rage and fury and passion, and I had a lot of pain that I wanted to release...

"I don't want to be defined by it. I'll be damned if somebody's gonna say that every creatively intelligent thing that I ever did is all boiled down to one d**khead who did that to me. I'm going to take responsibility for all my pain looking beautiful. All the things that I've made out of my strife, I did that."

Gaga is donating a portion of the proceeds from Til It Happens To You to charities which support victims.