Why the Cornell Case is so important
Caitlyn Woodbury
Why the Cornell Case is so important:
In the middle of September, an anonymous student filed a lawsuit against the American University Cornell for its handling of her sexual assault case. For those unaware, the student known as “Jane Doe” was allegedly drugged and gang-raped by seven students. Two of those students got expelled and the others had to write an essay or undergo sexual harassment training. It’s been almost a month since the case has blown up in the public, and it is something that I cannot stop thinking about.
According to the statement Jane Doe gave; she was out with her friends when she was invited back to the fraternity of one of her male friends, someone that she knew and trusted. At this point, she had both legal and illegal drugs in her system, meaning her ability to consent was gone. Later, the fraternity group chat was blowing up with texts about the situation, stating that there was “free p**” and they could “whip it out”. There were around 50 men in that group chat. 7 of which assaulted Jane Doe, and at least 43 who sat back and let it happen.
The harsh reality is that this is not an unusual case. Girls get spiked and gang raped and little happens to the perpetrators. But, there are many other factors that make this so heartbreaking to anyone who has read about it.
Jane Doe went home with someone she trusted, and he took advantage of her. In relation to us, it’s so difficult to hear that and not think “well would my guy friends do this to me?”. We would like to think the answer is no, and it most likely is. What we do also have to think about with our friends, our boyfriends, brothers or any men close to us, is if they would call out the behaviour. Over 40 men knew what was happening to Jane Doe and not one of them did anything. That is what is truly terrifying. It shows how rape culture and misogyny run deep, and it’s not always about committing the assault.
A man might not assault you, but he might laugh at a joke his friend made or tell women that “it’s not that deep” or “he would never do such a thing”. Men like that, whether it is conscious or not, are just as harmful to women because they let it happen. They let the men around them know that it is okay to continue doing what they are doing because no one is going to punish them. They might be forced to write an essay... but that’s it.
I hope that Jane Doe gets the justice she deserves. This attack cost her her education, her trust, her security and so much more that we can’t begin to imagine. I hope she keeps her anonymity and is able to live her life to her fullest extent.
But, I also hope that is goes deeper than that. Women have to be told to shout “fire” if attacked, to hold their hand over their drink and to walk home with keys in between our fingers. I hope this starts to shift the conversation away from blaming women and for men to realise that staying silent is harmful. I hope that this case causes people to think about their actions and whether they are doing the right thing. This isn’t an attack on men, as society has let them think that it is okay to stay silent, but it is not. To prevent more cases like Jane Doe, especially with this rise of the manosphere, there needs to be a greater change in how women are seen and how they are treated.
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