Warning: This article discusses rape and sexual assault and may be triggering for some
The Stanford University rape case made waves across the world with ex-swimmer Brock Turner recieving just six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman – he served only three of them. At the time, his victim was kept anonymous and known as Emily Doe, however, three years after Turner’s sentencing she has come forward to reveal her identity with the publication of a memoir titled Know My Name.
Chanel Miller’s identity might have been kept private until now, but her story is one millions of people know. At the time of Turner’s short sentencing, her victim impact statement went viral and in a clip for an upcoming episode of 60 Minutes, she reads it back: “You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me. In newspapers, my name was ‘unconscious, intoxicated woman.’ Ten syllables, and nothing more than that. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am. That I am not just a drunk victim at a frat party found behind a dumpster, while you are the All-American swimmer at a top university, innocent until proven guilty with so much at stake.”
Today, Chanel announced she started working on her memoir in 2017. In the process of writing it, she was able to read court documents and witness testimonies that she wasn’t allowed to see during the trial, which she says helped her piece together that night.
Speaking to the New York Times, Chanel’s book editor, Andrea Schulz, said Chanel’s story could “change the culture that we live in and the assumptions we make about what survivors should be expected to go through to get justice.”
Know My Name comes out on September 24.
