She became famous as Emily Doe, the young woman whose extraordinary letter to the man who assaulted her behind a dumpster at Stanford went viral after she read it at his sentencing.
"You don't know me," wrote Doe, who was unconscious when she was attacked, "but you have been inside me, and that's why we're here today."
Chanel Miller is not anonymous anymore; her memoir was released Wednesday.
"Know My Name" chronicles her emotional deterioration, the trauma of not knowing what had happened to her, of learning from the internet that her assailant had been arrested, of handling, and mishandling, her shame and embarrassment and rage.
It is as powerful and disturbing as the essay that made her famous, and vividly demonstrates how a victim continues to be victimized by institutions that are meant to help.
In a perfect world, it would be required reading for every police officer, detective, prosecutor, provost and judge who deals with victims of sexual assault.
"I do," she writes, recalling the moment she swore an oath to tell the truth. "Words I thought I'd speak first at my wedding, not my rape trial."
Surely, you remember the case: Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who was interrupted mid-assault by two Swedish graduate students, was convicted of three felonies, including assault with intent to rape. Citing Turner's good character and bright future, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced him to six months in jail; he served only 90 days.
Public outrage over the wrist-slap of a sentence led to a successful recall movement against Persky.
Prosecutors had not charged Turner with rape because there was no evidence of intercourse, so California lawmakers expanded the definition of rape to include any nonconsensual sexual penetration. They also created mandatory prison sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting an unconscious victim.
In an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Miller, 27, was asked a question by correspondent Bill Whitaker that made me cringe: "What do you say to those critics, people who say you did drink till you blacked out, you did make yourself vulnerable?"
"Rape is not a punishment for getting drunk," Miller replied evenly. "We have this sick mindset in our culture _ you deserve rape if you drink to excess. You deserve a hangover, a really bad hangover. You don't deserve to have someone put their body parts inside you."
When we talk about the very real role that alcohol plays in sexual assault, let us all please remember Miller's wise words: No one deserves to be raped, no one brings rape upon herself.
