You know the story of Emily Doe. Now, learn his name.



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For four years, the woman whose sexual assault case at Stanford University had caused a public outcry was known as "Emily Doe." In her new memoir, "Know My Name", which describes her life since then, she reveals her real name. : Chanel Miller.

In 2016, Ms. Miller's case made headlines after BuzzFeed published the statement that she had read at Brock Turner's sentencing hearing, the student of Stanford convicted of the assault.

Mr. Turner, then 20, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault, for which the maximum sentence was 14 years. But court president Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in prison, serving three months. Persky J.'s decision drew criticism from those who considered it too lenient and voters recalled it in 2018.

"I just remember being in my kitchen and reading this fascinating and fascinating work," said Andrea Schulz, editor of Viking, publisher of the book, about reading the victim's statement at In the summer of 2016. Shortly after, Philippa Brophy, a literary agent who represents Ms. Miller, contacted Ms. Schulz to tell her that her client was interested in writing a book.

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"I jumped out of my chair to acquire it," said Ms. Schulz, who declined to say how much Ms. Miller had been paid, "because it was obvious to me from the start what to expect." she had to say and how different it was and how extraordinarily well she was going to say it – she had the brains and the voice of a writer right from the start, even in that situation. "

Although Ms. Miller's case predated the #MeToo movement, her statement and Mr. Turner's sentence have been incorporated into the intense debates on rape, sexism and sexual misconduct in recent years. In addition to the judge's reminder, the first time Californian voters have taken such a step for more than 80 years, Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill to impose mandatory minimum sentences in cases of sexual assault. Ms. Miller's statement was read aloud on CNN and in the House of Representatives.

Ms. Miller began working on this book in early 2017 and since then has evolved and expanded as conversations about sexual violence became more important. The "Know My Name" writing process was also, in part, a way for Ms. Miller to reconstruct all of what happened the night she was assaulted. She read pages of court documents and transcripts of testimony that she had not been allowed to hear during the trial. She and Ms. Schulz had weekly calls to discuss what Miller was discovering and how it would shape the book.

The cover of "Know My Name" is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi or "golden repair", in which the broken pottery pieces are repaired using lacquer and gold powder . It is a process that creates a beautiful new object from what has been broken, highlighting the places where it has cracked. The association is supposed to represent Ms. Miller's recovery, both assault and trauma caused by a lawsuit, Schulz said.

"This is one of the most important books I have ever published," she added, because of her potential "to change the culture we live in and the assumptions we make about what survivors should suffer for justice. . "

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