Chanel Miller (born June 12, 1992) is an American writer and artist based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She was known anonymously after she was sexually assaulted on the campus of

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in January 2015 by Brock Allen Turner. The following year, her

victim impact statement A victim impact statement is a written or oral statement made as part of the judicial legal process, which allows crime victims the opportunity to speak during the sentencing of the convicted person or at subsequent parole hearings. Overview One ...

at his sentencing hearing went viral after it was published online by ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

'', being read 11 million times within four days. Miller was referred to as " Emily Doe" in court documents and media reports until September 2019, when she relinquished her anonymity and released her memoir '' Know My Name: A Memoir''. The book won the 2019

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, the elder of two daughters of a Chinese mother and an American father. Her mother emigrated from China to become a writer and her father is a retired therapist. Miller graduated from

Gunn High School Henry M. Gunn Senior High School is one of two public high schools in Palo Alto, California, the other being Palo Alto High School. Established in , Gunn High School was named after Henry Martin Gunn, who served as the Palo Alto superintendent fr ...

in 2010. She attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

College of Creative Studies The College of Creative Studies (CCS) is the smallest of the three Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges at the University of California, Santa Barbara, unique within the University of California system in terms of structure and phi ...

from which she graduated with a degree in literature in 2014.

Assault and investigation

On the evening of January 17, 2015, Miller accompanied her sister to a

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha, KA, or simply The Order, is an American social fraternity founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Along with Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, the order constitu ...

fraternity party at

. Miller's sister would later testify at trial that Brock Turner, a man previously unknown to her, had approached her twice and attempted to kiss her, but that she pulled away. The sentencing memo said that Miller's sister was "caught completely off guard" when Turner tried to kiss her and that she alerted a friend after Turner had grabbed her waist. She would later pick him out of a lineup as the "aggressive" man at the party. She also testified that she never saw Turner and Miller interact at the party. According to a police report compiled the morning after the incident, Turner told police that he met Miller outside the fraternity house and left with her. He also stated he did not know her name and "stated that he would not be able to recognize her if he saw her again." Later that night, two Swedish graduate students, Peter Lars Jonsson and Carl-Fredrik Arndt, were cycling on the Stanford campus at about 1:00 a.m., in the morning of January 18, when they spotted Turner assaulting Miller. According to Arndt and Jonsson, they surprised Turner behind a dumpster as he was on top of Miller, whose dress had been pulled up to expose her genitals, her underwear and cell phone having been dropped beside her. Jonsson and Arndt saw Turner thrust his hips into Miller, whom the two men observed appeared to be unconscious. Turner told deputies that he was the one who had removed Miller's underwear and digitally penetrated her for about five minutes, though "he denied taking his pants off and said his penis was never exposed." Jonsson testified that he confronted Turner and asked him, "What the fuck are you doing? She's unconscious." According to Jonsson, Turner quickly rose and attempted to flee the scene. As Arndt briefly went to determine whether Miller was breathing, Jonsson chased Turner, tripped him, and held him down around away from the dumpster, asking "What are you smiling for?" Later at trial, Turner told the district attorney that he had been laughing because he found the situation ridiculous. Arndt then joined the chase, helping to pin Turner down while a third bystander called sheriff's deputies. When the authorities arrived, they arrested Turner on suspicion of attempted rape. According to a deputy sheriff who described Miller as unconscious at the scene, when she arrived at the hospital, she did not respond to shouting and being shaken by the shoulders. She regained consciousness at . She later testified at Turner's trial that at the time she regained consciousness, she had pine needles in her hair and on her body, and dried blood on her hands and elbows. In an interview with police, Miller said she did not recall being alone with a man during the night and that she did not consent to any sexual activity. At the hospital, Miller was found to have abrasions and

erythema Erythema (, ) is redness of the skin or mucous membranes, caused by hyperemia (increased blood flow) in superficial capillaries. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation. Examples of erythema not associated with pathology inc ...

(reddening) on her skin. One nurse who administered a sexual assault response team examination at the hospital determined that she had experienced significant trauma (physical injury, bruising, etc.) and penetrating trauma (piercing and cutting injuries).

Impact statement

On March 30, 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felonies: assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. On June 3, 2016, the day after Turner was sentenced, a 7,137-word-long victim impact statement by Miller—who was referred to in court documents and media reports as " Emily Doe"—was published by ''

'', and was reprinted in other major news outlets such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. It went viral, being read 11 million times in four days after it was published. In one statement, she detailed the negative effects Turner had on her life: "You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today." The statement also detailed the effect on Doe's ability to remain in her full-time job, which she left afterward "because continuing day to day was not possible." Miller's statement also described her experience at the hospital and learning she was being treated for sexual assault: "The next thing I remember I was in a gurney in a hallway. I had dried blood and bandages on the backs of my hands and elbow...My brain was talking my gut into not collapsing. Because my gut was saying, help me, help me." Doe expresses gratitude to "the intern who made me oatmeal when I woke up at the hospital that morning, to the deputy who waited beside me, to the nurses who calmed me, to the detective who listened to me and never judged me, to my advocates who stood unwaveringly beside me, to my therapist who taught me to find courage in vulnerability." The statement articulated that "social class" should not be factored into the sentence: "The fact that Brock was a star athlete at a prestigious university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an opportunity to send a strong cultural message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class." Doe also disagreed with the probation officer's assessment that Turner had shown remorse, stating that Turner had failed to show genuine remorse and this was a factor in her anger at the brief sentence. On June 15, 2016, a bipartisan group of eighteen members of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

took turns reading the statement on the House floor. Representative

Jackie Speier Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier ( ; born May 14, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for , serving in Congress from 2008 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Speier represented much of the terr ...

organized the reading to raise awareness about sexual assault and to promote her legislation on campus sexual assault. Representative

Ann McLane Kuster Ann L. McLane Kuster (born September 5, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously worked as a lobbyist. Kuster chaired the New Dem ...

, Democrat from New Hampshire, said news of the attack led her to identify herself as the victim of sexual assaults and to focus legislative efforts on the problem. Representative

Paul Gosar Paul Anthony Gosar ( ; born November 27, 1958) is an American politician and dentist who has represented in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023 and represented from 2013 to 2023. A Republican, he was elected in 2010 to represent the ...

, Republican of Arizona, said: "People need to learn from this...This should matter to everyone." Cheri Bustos claimed a need for more women in the house to bring the issue of sexual assault to the forefront. Then–Vice President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

wrote Doe an open letter titled, "An Open Letter to a Courageous Young Woman," which read in part, "I am filled with furious anger—both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken that you were ever put in the position of defending your own worth."

''Know My Name: A Memoir''

On August 9, 2019, ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' released an interview with Miller—who decided to go public with her name. She described her story and the consequences of being anonymous, and met the two students who stopped Turner. Miller's memoir entitled ''Know My Name: A Memoir'' was published on September 4, 2019 by

Viking Books Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqui ...

and became a best-seller. The book won the 2019

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. ''

'' also selected ''Know My Name'' for its "100 Notable Books of 2019". The

Dayton Literary Peace Prize The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is an annual United States literary award "recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace" that was first awarded in 2006. Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point ...

selected the book as its 2020 non-fiction winner.

Recognition

Miller's account of her assault and the legal case resulting from it "sparked a nationwide discussion about rape on college campuses and how survivors were not being heard", and "became part of the intense debates around rape, sexism and sexual misconduct over the past years", including the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

. On November 1, 2016, '' Glamour'' named Miller, then known only as Emily Doe, a Woman of the Year for "changing the conversation about sexual assault forever", citing that her impact statement had been read over 11 million times. Miller attended the award ceremony anonymously. She accepted the award on stage in November 2019 after the publication of her book. She delivered a poem at the ceremony in which she advocated for the well-being of sexual assault survivors. She was listed as an influential person in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' 2019

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standard SI prefix for a hundred is " hecto-". 100 is the b ...

Next list. In 2019, Stanford University installed a plaque on campus memorializing the assault.

Artwork

After her assault, Miller started taking art courses at the recommendation of her therapist. In the summer of 2015, Miller attended a

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

class at

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

in Providence, Rhode Island. When ''Know My Name'' was first published, Miller also made a short film about her story, with her artwork and narration. Miller said: In 2020, a mural drawn by Miller appeared in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The and mural shows three vignettes of a cartoon figure, and the phrases "I was", "I am", and "I will be". The museum was closed to the public due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, though the mural is visible through the windows facing Hyde Street. Miller’s 2021 work includes a mural that covers an outdoor dining structure for Alimama Tea and Yin Ji Chang Fen on Bayard Street in Manhattan, New York. The mural was one of nine created in collaboration with A+A+A Studio for their "ASSEMBLY for CHINATOWN" project. The project was conducted to provide aid to family-owned restaurants and members of overlooked communities in Chinatown, New York. During the

, Asian American business-owner activity dropped 26%, and restaurants in Asian communities were vandalized due to hate crimes committed against

Asian Pacific Americans Asian/Pacific American (APA) or Asian/Pacific Islander (API) or Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) or Asian American and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) is a term sometimes used in the United States when including both Asian ...

. Miller's illustration have also featured as a design on athletic shoes from women's sneaker brand Rykä, a company that advocates for women's rights.

Publications

* '' Know My Name: A Memoir'' (2019) * '' Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All'' (2024)

References

External links

*
Victim Impact Statement
as published by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Chanel 1992 births Living people 21st-century American women writers American writers of Chinese descent American women writers of Chinese descent American victims of crime Sexual abuse victim advocates University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Writers from San Francisco Writers from Palo Alto, California American women memoirists 21st-century American memoirists Gunn High School alumni