Stoya, who accused ex-boyfriend and fellow porn actor James Deen of rape on Saturday, spoke publicly for the first time about the ordeal, saying she was "violated" by someone she trusted.
In an interview with the Guardian on Friday, Stoya alleged Deen raped her in San Francisco, while they were both not at work.
She described the incident, saying: "If you hold someone down and fuck them while they say 'no' and 'stop' and use their fucking safeword, that is rape. But when it first happened, I felt numb. And I went to work the next day. And I went to work the day after that. And I did a scene with him two days after, maybe three days after, I'm not sure. Then I felt like I'd been violated by someone I trusted."
Stoya said it took her over a year to fully comprehend that what had happened to her was rape, and that she decided to speak publicly so she wouldn't be forced to "carry it around for the rest of my life and keep it secret."
She claims that when she attempted to bring it up with Deen, he accused her being emotionally abusive.
Stoya first accused Deen of rape on Saturday evening in two tweets that read: "That thing where you log in to the internet for a second and see people idolizing the guy who raped you as a feminist. That thing sucks." And: "James Deen held me down and fucked me while I said no, stop, used my safeword. I just can't nod and smile when people bring him up anymore."
Deen called the accusations made by Stoya as "false and defamatory."
Following Stoya's accusation, seven other women have since accused Deen of assault. Stoya says she has been inundated with emails by other woman thanking her and claiming they too were sexually assaulted by men they knew.
The accusations against Deen – a high-profile porn star who has expanded his career into mainstream entertainment, featuring in numerous movies and television shows, in recent years – shook the industry and shed light on how difficult it is for women to speak out against sexual assault and rape in an industry where heavy stigma is attached. But Stoya stresses the problem isn't just in the porn industry, it's one that exists "everywhere."
"It's not just an entertainment problem," she said. "It's easy to look at Bill Cosby and think, oh, he had access. No. It happens fucking everywhere. In order for this stuff to stop happening in porn, we have to get it to stop happening in society."