TW: Description of sexual assault and violence.
Priya is a second-year computational mathematics student who says that Chanel Miller, author of a memoir on how she survived sexual assault at Stanford University, set a powerful example by allowing the world to know her name.
Her name is Chanel Miller.
On Jan. 18, 2015, two Swedish students found Chanel unconscious and being raped by a white male.
The police were called, the perpetrator arrested, and Chanel was taken to the hospital. When she woke up, she had no memory of the incident and had to be filled in. She was told how she’d been found with her dress hiked up and no underwear.
To say the least, any woman would be traumatized after the incident. During her trial, she read out a 7,500-word statement addressed to the man who had changed her life. This statement was published by BuzzFeed and went viral.
At the time, she was referred to as Emily Doe as her identity was not made public.
Chanel wrote anonymously, which is understandable given the trauma she has been through. Now that she has revealed her identity, it is our job as a society to commend her for empowering herself and millions of women who have been assaulted.
She wrote a memoir to tell the world how she took control of her life again. In the press, she’s been referred to as “the unconscious woman,” “the victim,” and “the woman who was raped,” among other descriptors.
On the other hand, the perpetrator was referred to as “a student at Stanford,” “an excellent swimmer,” and “a young man with a very bright future.”
Her assailant was this brilliant male who had made a mistake, and she was just a victim and nothing more than that.
Today, when one Googles why Chanel is famous, often the answer is that she was raped on Jan. 18, 2015.
She’s not famous because she’s a rape victim. She’s famous because of her will to fight back. She’s famous because she decided to write that statement. She’s famous because of her actions and her strength. She’s famous because when the media didn’t do her justice, she decided to publish her own book.
There is a need to acknowledge Chanel Miller not just because she’s a victim, but because she’s much more than that. She’s a graduate from University of California, a writer, a survivor, and many more things. With her memoir, the world can hopefully see her for who she truly is.
Chanel is a woman who has been through hell, but she has risen and made the best of her situation. The perpetrator is in an intro-level criminology textbook as a rapist because of her courage. He’s facing the consequences of his horrendous actions because of her determination. She is the reason why a man will think twice before committing such a heinous act.
File photo.
