Facebook has removed a viral video of a woman in glitter body paint being grabbed at Rhythm and Vines.

But the woman in the video isn't happy about the development, saying she'd rather it was left up so that those who make unwanted advances towards women are held accountable.

Madeline Anello-Kitzmiller, a 20-year-old from the US, had glitter art painted on her chest for New Year's Eve at Rhythm and Vines.

A video that attracted hundred of thousands of views shows her walking through fellow revellers at the Gisborne festival, when a man runs up behind her and grabs her.

Anello-Kitzmiller then spins around, races after the man and slaps him in the head four times.

Her friend Kiri-Ann Hatfield then pours a drink on him.

The video was posted online by fellow reveller Giann Reece.

She said it appeared the video had been taken down but she was unsure why.

She said it was annoying, but at least she hadn't received any of the backlash the girls in the video had.

Reece said she was glad the girls were ok.

"It was pretty shocking [when it happened], but also kind of satisfying that they stood up for themselves."

Anello-Kitzmiller told the Herald this morning, after returning to her Auckland home last night, that despite some of the reaction, she had wanted the video to stay up to show what women had to deal with.

"There are plenty of comments that I've just been trying not to read through.

"There's a lot of people saying I deserved it or I was asking for it, but the fact is people should be able to dress however they want ... no matter what you wear your body is nobody else's but your own."

Facebook states on its site that it restricts some content.

"We restrict the display of nudity and sexual activity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content - particularly because of their cultural background or age.

"We also restrict some images of female breasts if they include the nipple, but our intent is to allow images that are shared for medical or health purposes."

Facebook has been approached for comment.

Anello-Kitzmiller said she had been groped by men earlier in the day, while she was still wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

"We got [abused] constantly [while] walking around, but then we got people coming up and saying 'you look amazing', or 'I wish I had the confidence to do that', or 'I'm going to do that next time'."

Her friend Kiri-Ann Hatfield said she was disappointed the video was taken down.

"We saw that the original video had been taken down from Facebook. The girl who posted it said she wants it to stay up.

"It's just unfortunate that our society has gone to this, and we need to catch up."

Hatfield said plenty of other people had been stripping off, and there was a striking difference in the way men were treated versus the women.

"There were a lot of people [naked], a lot of men even.

"There were quite a few males on the slides with their pants down just doing their own thing – I didn't see them getting harassed at all."

A police spokesman said: "We are awaiting any information regarding the Rhythm and Vines incident."