Know My Name: The Survivor Of The Stanford Sexual Assault Case Tells Her Story

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CONSTANT READER STAFF REVIEW: VIJETA

If I could recommend this book to everybody and their mothers (and fathers), believe me, I would. It is one of the most important reads of my life so far.

Chanel’s story is heartbreaking, but so empowering. She was the Emily Doe at the centre of the Stanford sexual assault case in 2015-17, and in a shocking miscarriage of justice, her assailant served just under half of his prison sentence. While reading this book, I was upset, hurt, confused, but mostly just angry; I saw so many of my own experiences as a woman mirrored in Chanel’s words. She touched on so many acts of injustice within the legal and social system, a system that fails the most vulnerable and favours all else above the truth. Rest assured, Chanel's truth shines strong and proud, as a beacon for hope. I truly believe every woman can take something from this story, even if it’s just the comfort that we are much stronger than this world gives us credit for.

Read it, understand it, recommend it, and then read it again.

Description

She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on Buzzfeed, where it instantly went viral - viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.

Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways - there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humour, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.