Women, including some who have shared their own experiences of sexual assault, are using social media to say “I am Jane Doe” in solidarity with the Cornell University student who alleges that fraternity members raped her in 2024.
The case has attracted national attention. The woman is suing seven fraternity members, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and others.
New York law permits people bringing sexual assault lawsuits to remain anonymous as “Jane Doe.” But her attorney said the Cornell student has become distressed by online skeptics who are trying to uncover and publish her identity.
“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 Denver-based writer and actor who recently declared #IamJaneDoe on social media. “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 was 20 when the alleged 2024 gang rape occurred. She filed her lawsuit on September 16, leading prosecutors to reopen a criminal investigation that had initially been closed without charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed the state’s attorney general as special prosecutor and on Friday criticized police and prosecutors, saying they had not thoroughly investigated the allegations.
The accused men have denied any wrongdoing, according to The New York Times. Cornell has defended how it handled the matter.
Since the lawsuit was filed, online commentators have tried to identify and expose the accuser. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, described those efforts as an attempt to shame her.
“She’s not doing well,” Giuffra told CNN. “She’s under siege on social media.”
Giuffra said several women have also been wrongly identified as his client. “That’s been really difficult,” he said. “And she’s gone through a lot.”
Much of the support for the woman online has focused criticism on independent journalist and commentator Michael Tracey. He has expressed sympathy for the accused men over what he describes as harassment they have faced since the allegations emerged. Tracey has also challenged accounts from victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Here’s the latest on the ‘Cornell 7’ frat probe:
Tracey, who did not respond to a Reuters request for an interview, has characterized his effort to identify the Cornell student as journalistic diligence protected by constitutional free-speech rights.
“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 wrote on social media Monday in one of several posts about the case.
Early Friday, Tracey posted a name he believed belonged to the accuser. Reuters could not verify the name, and Tracey soon deleted it, saying he had made his point.
“But please do not harass her, her family, or anyone else associated with her,” he wrote after removing the post. “I’m serious. I wish her no harm. I feel bad for her in a way.”
‘You feel like you’re on an island’
Amee Vanderpool, who writes an online newsletter on Substack, offered a typical response among those angered by 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, wrote on Facebook this week that she publicly spoke in 1990 about being raped as a teenager 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 Diego resident who works with children with disabilities, said the hashtag may help sexual assault survivors feel less isolated.
“Because oftentimes you feel like you’re on an island,” said Jacobson, who said she was fortunate to receive support on campus after being raped in 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.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673).
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