Lena Dunham says she felt ‘sick’ to learn that Kesha had to honour her contract with Dr Luke

The actress and writer said the lack of perspective from Sony is ‘horrifying’

Ms Dunham wrote that the court case ruling undermines the chances for other female artists to escape the industry's 'systemic misogyny' (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Lena Dunham has spoken out against the "systemic misogyny" of the music industry which has resulted in a court ordering pop star Kesha to honour her contract with producer Dr Luke, although he allegedly drugged, sexually abused and terrified her for years.

In her most recent Lenny’s Letter, Ms Dunham said that Kesha’s judge, Shirley Komreich, ruled that it was not appropriate to “decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated”.

“Guess what else is heavily negotiated? The human contract that says we will not hurt one another physically and emotionally. In fact, it’s so obvious that we usually don’t add it to our corporate documents,” Ms Dunham wrote.

Last week the New York Supreme Court denied an immediate injunction for Kesha against Luke Gottwald that would allow her to continue to produce music without his presence or involvement. Instead, Sony has insisted that the two artists need never be in the same room together, but Mr Gottwald will still have a stake in Kesha’s work.

“The lack of perspective on the part of Sony — the inability to look at the worth of a woman’s platinum records versus the worth of her soul being intact — is horrifying,” Ms Dunham said.

The actress and writer, who has talked publicly about her own sexual assault on a student campus, pointed to the dire situation facing many women in the US today, including the fact that in 19 states rapists still have custodial rights over their children - including New York, Lena Dunham’s home state, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi and North Dakota.

According to the document from October 2014, only 24 US states terminate all parental rights of the rapist, while the remaining states only ban some parental rights or none at all.

As has been the case with Kesha, financial abuse occurs in 98 per cent of domestic violence cases. Many states also allow landlords to kick their tenants out if they call the police for any kind of disorderly conduct, which includes domestic violence. This explains why 20 per cent of homeless women are on the street, said Ms Dunham.

The star and the writer of the fifth season of "Girls", out this week, finished her article by praising the wave of support for Kesha and outrage over the court’s verdict. Other artists have shown their support, including Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato. Taylor Swift sent $250,000 to aid Kesha's financial independence.

“Soon, no one will accept shame and fear as the status quo. And so, while Kesha is indefinitely silenced, her voice has never been louder,” said Ms Dunham.

Mr Gottwald denied the allegations on Twitter and blamed Kesha for being "motivated by money" and carrying out a "smear campaign" against him.