Cornell rape case sparks a viral response. Women say ‘it isn’t just Cornell’

Cornell rape case sparks a viral response. Women say 'it isn't just Cornell'.

Key points

• Rachel Hale's role covering Youth Mental Health at USA TODAY is backed by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners.
• I'm Cornell's Jane Doe, reads the text in a TikTok with more than six million views.
• A third of undergraduate women say they've been sexually assaulted, but on average, Cornell University documented expelling just one attacker per year.
• Some of the videos are in direct response to calls by content creator and political commentator Michael Tracey to publish the name and identifying information of Jane Doe.
• There's been a central message from users posting regarding the lawsuit: This isn't just happening at Cornell, and it isn't just occurring on college campuses.

Cornell rape case sparks a viral response. Women say 'it isn't just Cornell'. Rachel Hale USA TODAY. Cornell University rarely expels students for sexual assault.

Meanwhile, a third of undergraduate women say they've been sexually assaulted, but on average, Cornell University documented expelling just one attacker per year. "I am Jane Doe."

Those are the words flooding TikTok, Instagram and Reddit as users join in a viral campaign to halt those who are trying to uncover the identity of the true Jane Doe, a young woman who accused members of a Cornell fraternity of gang raping her in October 2024.

"Since they want to reveal Jane Doe's identity. We won't let them. I'm Cornell's Jane Doe, " reads the text in a TikTok with more than six million views. "We're all Jane doe until none of us are, " reads another. "Everyone saying that they are Cornell's Jane Doe is crazy cuz I am too, " another user posted with the hashtag, #metoo.

In a modern "Spartacus" or "Radio Rebel" maneuver, the posts are an effort to inundate the internet with false leads and fake identities, creating a digital buffer to support protect the survivor's privacy.

"If you happen to know who this Cornell 'Jane Doe' is, get in touch and I would be happy to publish her name and identifying information, " Tracey wrote on X.

For context, the posts have become the latest flashpoint in a broader reckoning around sexual violence. For women who took an active role in the #MeToo movement, the case is a sobering reminder that the safer campuses and workplaces they hoped to create for the girls who came after them remain a work in progress.

"There actually hasn't been coverage of a big campus sexual violence story in years, " notes Nicole Bedera, the author of "On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence, " noting that campus sexual violence rates have remained stagnant. "It's happening whether or not we talk about it, and so I'm glad we're talking about it." 'Absolutely disgusted': Cornell gang rape allegations spark fury online. Why Jane Doe is prompting other victims to tell their stories.

There's been a central message from users posting regarding the lawsuit: This isn't just happening at Cornell, and it isn't just occurring on college campuses. While survivors are forced to carry the burden of an experience they didn't ask for, it's a symptom of a larger difficulty that allows perpetrators of sexual violence and misogyny to go unchecked.

"What he did has affected my ability to work, to go to school, to be around individuals, to function. I have night terrors almost every single night that I don't take medication to go to sleep, " one woman posted regarding her sexual assault from eight years ago. "They say don't ruin these men's lives, but my life was ruined."

While others say the Cornell incident caused them to reflect on their own experiences with renewed scrutiny, some survivors are sharing their stories publicly for the first time.

"I'm Jane Doe. My story happened at 16, " creator Sarah Lupica posted in a TikTok to her 1.5 million followers, detailing a sexual assault she's "just tried to forget regarding." Influencer Haley Bea Kalil, better known as Haley Baylee, shared, "I stand with Jane Doe as I am a Jane Doe."

They've shared regarding the confusing lines when an assault happens within a friendship or romantic relationship, how their social circles dwindled after their friends continued to associate with their abuser, and the ways the sexual assault continues to shape their lives, years after it happened.

"I was sexually assaulted two months into my freshman year at UCLA. I had just turned 19. I'm almost 30. It's been 11 years, I lost regarding 10 years of my life solidly to PTSD and really bad depression, " another woman shared.

It's not unusual for sexual assault survivors to come forward with extra details over time, or even initially deny that an assault occurred.

In Bedera's research on campus sexual violence, she has discovered that numerous survivors hesitate to fully disclose what happened since they're trying to understand the potential consequences of reporting sexual abuse incidents. Students may worry regarding getting in trouble for underage drinking, drug apply or other prohibited activities that occurred around the time of an assault, whether the victim consented to engage in them or not.

"They have questions like, 'If I report, what happens next? Could I obtain in trouble for using drugs? Could I obtain expelled?'" Bedera explained. "And so what they tend to do is say nothing happened." Why the response to Jane Doe matters for future survivors.

Experts say the public reactions to high-profile sexual assault allegations can send a message to other survivors regarding how they might be treated if they come forward.

"We should be offering empathy to the survivor to understand why she might have made the decision she made, " Bedera remarked. "Jane Doe is not the first person to ever do this. What does that tell us about our system, that victims don't feel like they can vulnerably share the truth?"

Some of this "victim-blaming, " Bedera remarked, comes from misogyny. But it additionally can stem from fear.

"Individuals want to think that this violence doesn't just doesn't happen. To be in denial that this kind of thing can happen when you send your daughter to college, " she informed USA TODAY. "But that too is a misogynistic reaction that denies the realities of sexual violence for women."

Rather than scrutinizing the victim, one right course of action is to "center survivors, " Crystal Justice, the former Chief External Affairs Officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline (The Hotline), previously informed USA TODAY.

"We encourage you to learn to recognize the warning signs of abuse, listen to survivors when they share their experience with you (and) offer help to survivors when it's safe to do so, " Justice remarked.

Rachel Hale's role covering Youth Mental Health at USA TODAY is backed by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach her at [email protected] and @rachelleighhale on X. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, cornell rape case sparks a viral response. Women say it isnt just is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.