New Delhi: The woman who filed a lawsuit against Cornell University for mishandling her complaint of sexual assault is now being identified online.
As with any survivor in such a case, the civil lawsuit filed by the former Cornell University student had been identified as Jane Doe to protect her identity. She had alleged that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at a party in September 2024.
But the case took another turn online when people began trying to uncover her identity.
On 29 September, journalist and political commentator Michael Tracey posted on X asking people who knew the identity of Cornell’s Jane Doe to contact him, saying he intended to publish her name and identifying information.
“Let’s see if anyone has the ‘balls’ to name this Jane Doe so we can all evaluate her veracity, and that of her lawyers, since her lawsuit didn’t hesitate to name and shame 7 of her peers as gang-rapists,” Tracey posted
Soon, people online began trying to identify the woman themselves. Some women were wrongly named and subsequently faced harassment.
The response was almost counterintuitive. Instead of helping the internet find one Jane Doe, women began making themselves Jane Doe.
“You want to know who Jane Doe is? I am Jane Doe,” became one of the recurring messages across X and Instagram. The idea was simple: make the name so widespread that identifying one person becomes harder.
But the posts did not stop at solidarity. Many women began sharing their own experiences of sexual assault and harassment alongside the hashtag. Influencer Haley Baylee spoke about her own experience of sexual assault in a video that has received around 2.4 million views, writing that “I stand with Jane Doe because I am a Jane Doe.”
Also read: Drishyam: The Conclusion went through more than 100 drafts, says screenwriter
More than one victim
The movement has also produced its own theories and speculation online. A recurring question has been whether the men accused in the Cornell case could genuinely have been unable to identify or remember the woman, and if there had been more than one victim. Some users have therefore speculated that there may have been multiple victims.
At the same time, women online have turned their attention away from identifying Jane Doe and towards the seven men named in the lawsuit. Posts and videos have circulated their names and photographs, with users arguing that the people already publicly identified in the lawsuit, rather than the woman whose identity is protected, should be the focus of scrutiny.
That gives I Am Jane Doe a familiar quality. It echoes #MeToo, which turned individual accounts of sexual harassment and assault into a collective conversation. The difference is subtle but significant. #MeToo was largely about saying this happened to me. #IAmJaneDoe is, at least initially, about saying you don’t get to find her and then, for many women, adding their own stories to the conversation.
Social media has made it easier to share experiences, but it has also made it easier to identify people, circulate photographs and personal information, and turn speculation into something that looks like fact. The same platforms being used to tell women’s stories are also where attempts to uncover Jane Doe’s identity have played out.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
If evidence is found against these 7 students – they must be punished as per law.
But if evidence is not found or is not enough against these 7 accused – then the Jane Doe must be held accountable for defamation and harassment.
The political commentator Michael Tracey is spot on – everyone must be subject to scrutiny and held accountable.
Why put the blame on the men alone? Why give a clean chit to the woman?