Stanford rape survivor breaks silence in powerful Glamour essay

The sexual assault survivor &quot;Emily Doe&quot; wrote an inspiring essay for Glamour.

(Image credit: Gabrielle Lurie/AFP/Getty Images)

published 1 November 2016

Glamour has named "Emily Doe," the woman who was sexually assaulted by Stanford student Brock Turner near the university last January, as a Woman of the Year in honor of her courage to speak up during and after the high-profile case earlier this year. Glamour lauded the impact Doe's willingness to be outspoken in the face of trauma had on not only survivors, but also in inspiring legislation to better the lives of survivors of sexual assault.

In her essay for Glamour — her first public statement since the letter she read to Turner in court was released in full at BuzzFeed in June — Doe spoke about her life after the case, noting that she was considered "a best case scenario" for a sexual assault case, given the breadth of evidence against her attacker. But "if this is what having it good looks like," Doe wrote, "what other hells are survivors living?" (Turner was sentenced to just six months in jail.)

Doe says that in the aftermath of her assault, one particular internet comment stuck out to her: "Sad. I hope my daughter never ends up like her." The words "managed to lodge harmfully inside me," she wrote:

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So now to the one who said, I hope my daughter never ends up like her, I am learning to say, I hope you end up like me, meaning, I hope you end up like me strong. I hope you end up like me proud of who I'm becoming. I hope you don't "end up," I hope you keep going. And I hope you grow up knowing that the world will no longer stand for this. Victims are not victims, not some fragile, sorrowful aftermath. Victims are survivors, and survivors are going to be doing a hell of a lot more than surviving. [Emily Doe, via Glamour]

Glamour's other honorees for this year also include Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, who founded the #BlackLivesMatter movement; gymnast Simone Biles; musician Gwen Stefani; and more. Read Doe's full essay — including her account of what it felt like to be praised by Vice President Joe Biden — here.

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Ricky Soberano is the social media editor at TheWeek.com. Her writing has appeared in Complex, Nylon, Gothamist, Maxim, and others. Previously she was the culture editor for The Stony Brook Press and contributing editor for The Odyssey. She has a B.A. in multidisciplinary studies in journalism and dance from Stony Brook University and an A.S. in dance from Queensborough Community College. She's lived in Brooklyn her whole life, eats too much ramen, and freelance models, and she enjoys writing about the undiscovered and underreported within the sphere of culture. Follow her on Twitter.