Know my name

 Author: Chanel Miller

A memoir by Chanel Miller, earlier known as Emily Doe to the world. She was a victim of sexual assault at Stanford, California. She is neither the first nor the last such victim. However, she is one of the few who opened herself to the world. Many victims don't even report their cases. She reported it and then made her statement public and now has written the full story. 

One must read the book, to see the story from the perspective of the victim. Right from when the attack happened to how her life changes for not just next few months but for years to come; and her struggles in the court. It is not just her but everybody around her as well who is impacted. Slowly and gradually as she reveals what happened to some of her close friends she finds out how many of them have gone through it in the past but never told anybody. What happened to her was a fact and yet she had to fight a battle in the court. How the media talked about what would happen to the sports career of the attacker but nobody talked about how it had ruined the life of the victim. 

In cases of sexual assault while people do always pity the victim, they also almost always find ways to point finger at the victim. Things like she was wearing clothes that expose her body or she was drunk or she was out in the middle of the night. I always thought it was wrong to think like that and when reading Chanel's story I felt even more strongly for it. There is no excuse for such a crime - just like there's no excuse for any other crime.