Jane Doe Protests Sweep the Nation as Survivors Demand Justice

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the New York State Supreme Court building in Manhattan in one of more than 150 Jane Doe protests held across the country under the banner "#StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House."

The Manhattan crowd, mostly women, held banners reading "Death to rape culture" and "This is personal." The flagship rally began at 5:30 p.m. ET outside the courthouse where the Cornell student filed her civil lawsuit. It was the marquee event of the Jane Doe protests, drawing what organizers described as hundreds of attendees. "It's just an infuriating moment," said protester Brianna Williams, who works for a nonprofit, according to Reuters. Some activists pointed to comments from President Donald Trump about his behavior toward women and a jury verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll as contributing to a "culture of rape" in the US, Reuters reported.

On September 16, the Cornell student identified in court filings as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit alleging that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and sexually assaulted her at the frat house on October 19, 2024. She says she reported the assault to Cornell police on November 8 of that year, but the Tompkins County district attorney declined to bring charges. The suit also faults Cornell for how it handled the case, including offering some accused students the chance to reduce penalties by writing essays. Chi Phi's Cornell chapter was shut down, and the school says it issued expulsions and suspensions. The men named in the suit deny wrongdoing.

A national day of action

Organizers billed Thursday as a national day of action, calling it the "I am Jane Doe" mobilization, with local events listed on an interactive map and anchored by Women's March, Feminist Generation, Feminist, and the international arm of the Me Too movement. The Women's March website published an interactive map so people could find Jane Doe protests by ZIP code, see exact times, and RSVP. The Jane Doe protests called for justice for Jane Doe and other survivors, accountability for institutions that fail survivors, stronger federal protections and resources, and expanded support for student survivors on campuses, Fast Company reported. Organizers said supporters adopted the slogan partly to shield Jane Doe's identity after a political commentator vowed to dox her "for reasons of public interest."

The actions stretched well beyond New York. Thousands of students, faculty, and community members had marched through Cornell's campus in Ithaca earlier in the week, according to Reuters, and Thursday's Jane Doe protests were scheduled in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Organizers also listed a rally at Columbia University's gates and events in Rochester and Syracuse, and said the Jane Doe protests stood in solidarity with LSU student Kendall Francis and survivors connected to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

What changed after the lawsuit

Prosecutors have reopened the criminal investigation since the civil suit was filed. On October 1, Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case. Cornell hired Sally Yates, a former top Justice Department lawyer, to lead an independent review of how the school handled the allegations, according to Reuters.

The district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, had said on September 28 that Jane Doe had not previously alleged she was drugged or gang raped, but a transcript of her conversation with Cornell police showed she stated she was "completely and totally incapacitated," according to CBS News reporting cited by Fast Company. Van Houten said he had not seen the transcript before deciding against charges. Cornell, for its part, says it spent months on a Title IX investigation and shared the results with the district attorney's office, in a statement updated October 7.

Echoes of an earlier movement

The Jane Doe protests arrive almost nine years after the #MeToo movement spread worldwide following the New York Times' Harvey Weinstein exposé. Women's March executive director Rachel O'Leary Carmona wrote that sexual violence has radicalized women before, and argued the country has reached that point again. Hochul's special prosecutor appointment, the reopened criminal investigation, and Cornell's independent review are the next steps in a case that has already reshaped the national conversation about sexual violence on college campuses.

Sources: Reuters, Fast Company