Dozens of people turned out to Washington Square Park in downtown Rochester Oct. 8 wearing identical name tags.
Hello, my name is Jane Doe, the red and white stickers read.
The phrase has become a national rallying cry in the weeks since a former Cornell University student filed a lawsuit accusing several fraternity members of a drug-fueled gang rape. The case has sparked uproar around the university's handling of Jane Doe's alleged assault but has also triggered intense scrutiny of her claims by others. The fallout includes a rapidly emerging, sometimes fraught conversation about sexual violence in the United States.
By saying, "I am Jane Doe," survivors of sexual assault have found a way to disclose their own experiences and seek strength in visibility
― a resurgence of the #MeToo movement. Others have used the refrain to show their solidarity for the accuser and to block attempts to reveal her identity.
Rochester calls for reforms, more sex education to combat violence
Some 90 miles away from Cornell, Jill Meredith Vinci inscribed 100 name tags from Staples in her Brighton home. She passed them out freely at Thursday's Stop Sexual Violence rally, which was one of dozens of demonstrations held across the country. Vinci, dressed in all black, carried a large black sign that she said she has repurposed for No Kings protests and rallies against ICE throughout the last year.
"I've gotten into rage crafting as a way of coping with the current dystopian hellscape we're living in," she said.
Speakers at the rally similarly teetered between anger and action. They reminded the crowd that sexual violence is not just a Cornell problem ― it persists nearly everywhere ― and said survivors are repeatedly failed by the systems that investigate and litigate their abuse.
Holly Eckelberger, director of Rochester's Sexual and Reproductive Justice Task Force, said more needs to be done to address the problem earlier by filling gaps and inconsistencies in K-12 sexual health education.
"Prevention education has to start long before college," Eckelberger said. "It needs to start in infancy with bodily autonomy and respect, and grow through elementary, middle and high school with talking about consent, healthy relationships, contraception and how and where to get help. Every year we refuse to teach this, we send another class into the world unprepared. Some of them will become survivors and some of them will become perpetrators."
Mickey DiPerna, an outreach advocate for the local rape crisis center, RESTORE, said the rally was important to refuse "to let shame and silence have the final word" in Jane Doe's case, but also in the stories of millions of other survivors of sexual assault.
"To every survivor who has shared their story, we hear you. We see you. We stand with you and we believe you," DiPerna said. "And know, please know, that it was not your fault. It was never your fault. Not what you wore, not what you did, not where you went, not who you trusted. Not whether you froze, fought, ran or couldn't move at all. It was not your fault."
To reach the RESTORE crisis hotline, call 585-546-2777.
― Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 'It was not your fault.' Rochesterians send message to rape survivors
