Asian American victim in Stanford sexual assault identifies herself

CBS NEWS

Chanel Miller wants to reclaim the narrative of the sexual assault.

The Asian American woman, a victim of a sexual assault on the Stanford Campus three years ago, known for years only as Emily Doe, has revealed her identity.

Chanel Miller, who was unconscious during the assault, will appear on a segment in 60 Minutes on Sept. 22 prior to the release of her memoir, "Know My Name." It is the first time the Vietnamese American has allowed her face to be seen by the public and agreed to a live interview.

Turner was discovered on top of the victim behind a dumpster by two graduate students from Sweden. When he ran away, the pair chased him down and detained him until police arrived.

In 2016, Stanford swimmer the then-21-year old Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting Miller outside of a fraternity party in 2015. He was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault, a conviction that could have landed him a 14-year prison sentence. Instead, the case’s judge, Aaron Persky gave Turner six months in jail. He was released after three months.

The judge believed that Turner showed remorse, despite Turner refusing to admit he had sexually assaulted Miller, according to The Huffington Post. Persky said he thought Turner would “not be a danger to others” and expressed concern that “a prison sentence would have a severe impact” on him.

The public outrage in reaction to the lenient sentence led to Persky being recalled and ousted from the bench.

At Brock's sentencing, Miller read her powerful 7,000 word statement. It was published by Buzzfeed and  it has been read by millions. It starts. Eighteen congresswomen read the statement aloud in the House of Representatives to bring attention to sexual assault.

Since the arrest and during the trial and the obscene sentence toTurner eventual release from jail, the focus has been on the rapist.

With the release of her memoir, Miller wants to reclaim the narrative. 

“You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me,” Miller reads from her statement in the 60 Minutes clip released today (Sept. 4). “In newspapers, my name was ‘unconscious, intoxicated woman.’ Ten syllables, and nothing more than that. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am.”

That's also how she began her statement at Turner's sentencing while looking directly at her attacker.

Here's the 60 Minutes clip released today:

“I just remember being in my kitchen and reading this incredible, riveting piece of work,” Andrea Schulz, the editor-in-chief of Viking, the book’s publisher, told the New York Times. 

“I jumped out of my chair to acquire it, because it was just obvious to me from the beginning what she had to say and how different it was and how extraordinarily well she was going to say it,” Schulz said. “She had the brain and the voice of a writer from the very beginning, even in that situation.”

Miller has been writing the book since 2017, reports the NY Times, but since then has expanded the theme to include the conversations generated by the #MeToo movement.

According to a New York Times exclusive, Miller eventually graduated from UC Santra Barbara and living in San Francisco as an artist and writer.

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