Lena Dunham has released a statement addressing the recent outrage over parts of her book Not That Kind of Girl which detail her relationship with her younger sister, Grace. Some critics have argued that the passages – one of which describes seven-year-old Dunham finding pebbles in Grace's vagina – amount to child abuse.

In her statement, Dunham says that she is "dismayed" over this interpretation of her book. 

"First and foremost, I want to be very clear that I do not condone any kind of abuse under any circumstances," she writes in Time. "Childhood sexual abuse is a life-shattering event for so many, and I have been vocal about the rights of survivors."

"If the situations described in my book have been painful or triggering for people to read, I am sorry, as that was never my intention. I am also aware that the comic use of the term 'sexual predator' was insensitive, and I’m sorry for that as well."

"As for my sibling, Grace, she is my best friend, and anything I have written about her has been published with her approval."

The Girls writer, director and actor said on Twitter earlier this week that she went into a "rage spiral" upon hearing of the accusations, cancelling two dates on her book tour in Antwerp and Berlin. 

Grace, who is travelling with Dunham on her book tour, has come out in support of her sister – and basically suggests that the controversy is just one more way that society seeks to police the sexual behaviour of young women. Sounds about right.