Writing that Transformed American Society, 2016: The Survivor's Impact Statement

When many Americans think of 2016, they recall the experience of 11/9, the day the world learned that Donald J. Trump would be the 45th president of the United States.

That event tends to overshadow all the rest. But a lot was going on in 2016.

Britain voted for Brexit. Flint was in the throws of a water crisis. The Zika virus threatened prenatal heath. Terror attacks struck Nice, Brussels, Burkina Faso, Istanbul, and Orlando. The Paris Climate Accord was signed. South Korea and Brazil impeached their presidents.

With all that happened in 2016, it's easy to overlook what transpired in a California courtroom on June 2. On that day, a 23-year old woman, referred to as Emily Doe (later revealed to be Chanel Miller), directly addressed Brock Turner, a star athlete on Stanford's swim team, who was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault.

"You Don't Know Me"

In the 12-page letter read out loud to the court, Doe articulated a powerful account of her experience. "You don’t know me," the letter began, "but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today."

The letter explains the events leading up to the night of the incident. Doe worked full-time, and was planning to go to bed as usual, but her sister was visiting for the weekend and they only had one night to spend together. They decided to go to a frat party about ten minutes from home.

"On the way there, I joked that undergrad guys would have braces. My sister teased me for wearing a beige cardigan to a frat party like a librarian. I called myself 'big mama', because I knew I’d be the oldest one there."

It was a familiar light-hearted start to an evening. "I made silly faces, let my guard down, and drank liquor too fast not factoring in that my tolerance had significantly lowered since college."

Doe explains that the next thing she remembers is waking up "in a gurney in a hallway." She had been found by two Swedish bicyclists, unconscious and half-naked as Turner assaulted her behind a dumpster.

She finds dried blood and bandages on the back of her hands and elbows. Pine needles fall from her hair and neck. "I shuffled from room to room with a blanket wrapped around me, pine needles trailing behind me, I left a little pile in every room I sat in. I was asked to sign papers that said 'Rape Victim.'"

Paperwork is followed with the collection of evidence, a humiliating examination of her body, with nurses helping to comb pine needles from her hair, and "a Nikon pointed right into my spread legs."

Hours pass before she is allowed to shower. "I stood there examining my body beneath the stream of water and decided, I don’t want my body anymore. I was terrified of it, I didn’t know what had been in it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it. I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave it at the hospital with everything else."

The Statement's Impact

The letter immediately garnered attention for its powerful portrayal of sexual assault and its devastating aftermath.

In her article, "Show rape victim's letter to your sons," legal analyst Mel Robbins writes, "I just finished reading one of the most powerful things I've ever seen...Reading it will expose you to the horror every rape victim faces as she is retraumatized over and over while society seeks 'justice' against her rapist."

The letter also caught the attention of members of Congress. Representative Cheri Bustos, Democrat of Illinois, and Representative Jackie Speier, Democrat of California, organized a bipartisan reading of the letter on the House floor.

“I so admire this woman," stated Ms. Bustos. "We’ve had many wake-up calls, but this one has really done a service to prevent other rapes.”

Democracy Now! estimates that over 13 million people have read Emily Doe's survivor statement. In addition to the public reading in the House of Representatives, a number of other public readings of all or part of the statement have been posted on YouTube.

As a key precursor to the #MeToo movement, Emily Doe's articulate statement gave momentum to the moment and greater insight into experiences of sexual assault on college campuses.

She ends by speaking to other victims of sexual assault. "As the author Anne Lamott once wrote, 'Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.' Although I can’t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you. To girls everywhere, I am with you. Thank you."