By Donna Bryson and Jonathan Allen
Oct 3 - Women, some citing their own experiences of sexual assault, are posting on social media that they are Jane Doe, in solidarity with the woman using the pseudonym in accusing fraternity members of raping her at Cornell University in 2024.
In a case that has drawn national attention, the woman is suing seven fraternity members and the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, among others.
And although New York law allows "Jane Doe" anonymity for sexual assault lawsuits,
the Cornell student has become distressed at attempts by some online skeptics of her account to discover her name and publish it, her lawyer said.
"I want us to support Jane Doe in coming to her own way of identifying herself in her own time," said Twanna LaTrice Hill, a writer and actor in Denver who has declared #IamJaneDoe on social media in recent days. "And if she never does, that's fine. But the flip side of that is that the people like me need to speak up if we are able to."
EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY ACCUSER DRAW BACKLASH
The woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged 2024 gang rape, filed suit on September 16, prompting prosecutors to reopen a criminal investigation they had initially closed without charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the state's attorney general as special prosecutor in the case and on Friday faulted police and prosecutors, saying they had not fully investigated the woman's allegations.
The accused men have denied all wrongdoing, the New York Times reported. Cornell has defended its handling of the matter.
Since the woman filed her lawsuit, some commentators have sought to learn and publish the accuser's identity online, efforts that her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, called an attempt to shame her.
"She's not doing well," Giuffra told CNN. "She's under siege on social media."
He said some women have been incorrectly identified as his client. "That's been really difficult," he said. "And she's gone through a lot."
Much of the online support for her has criticized independent journalist and commentator Michael Tracey, who has expressed sympathy for the accused men over what he says is the harassment they have since faced. Tracey has also questioned the accounts of victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Tracey, who did not respond to a Reuters request for an interview, describes his effort to identify the Cornell student as journalistic diligence protected by constitutional free speech protections.
"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 & shame 7 of her peers as gang-rapists," Tracey posted on social media on Monday, one of multiple messages on the case.
Early on Friday, he posted what he believed to be the accuser's name, which Reuters was unable to verify, before quickly deleting it, saying his point had been made.
"But please do not harass her, her family, or anyone else associated with her," he wrote after deleting the name. "I'm serious. I wish her no harm. I feel bad for her in a way."
'YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE ON AN ISLAND'
A post by Amee Vanderpool, who publishes an online newsletter on Substack, was typical of a number of messages and videos shared by those outraged at Tracey's efforts.
"To anyone who is looking to find out the identity of Jane Doe in the Cornell rape case, look no further, because it's Amee Vanderpool," she wrote. "I am Jane Doe."
Hill, 62, the writer in Denver, posted on Facebook this week about speaking publicly in 1990 about being raped when she was a teen by a youth minister who had counseled her.
"I was in absolutely no way trying to get other survivors to come forward or to go public if they did not feel ready," she wrote. "But I had hoped that as more of us coming forward, the stigma would be reduced. Perhaps it has in some small way, but not nearly enough. So I stand before you today simply to say: #IamJaneDoe."
Katy Jacobson, a 35-year-old San Diegan who works with children with disabilities, said the hashtag can help survivors of sexual assault feel less alone.
"Because oftentimes you feel like you're on an island," said Jacobson, who added she felt fortunate to find support on campus when she was raped during college by a former boyfriend.
Some 21% of women in the US report being survivors of completed or attempted rape, according to the most recent figures from the US CDC's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
At Cornell, 35% of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since arriving on campus, according to a university survey conducted in 2025 and published on its website. That was up from 20% in 2021.
Jacobson's posts direct people to organizations such as RAINN, which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
"Even today, if you looked at my story, it has resources," Jacobson said. "I'm not posting about the men. I'm posting about Jane Doe."
(Reporting by Donna Bryson in Denver and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by William Mallard)
