"We are Jane Doe" - protest demonstration at US elite university

Around 1,000 protesters gathered in downtown Ithaca. Not only students from Cornell University, many also came from other university cities. “Do you want to make sure that something finally changes?” one of the organizers asks the crowd. And when she asked “When?” the demonstrators demand: “Now!”

One of the protesters is Maishay Causey, a political science student and member of the student parliament at Cornell University. They trusted the university administration to investigate the allegations, says Causey. “The fact that this trust was so violated was very disappointing for many.”

Management took action too late

The alleged victim of the gang rape, a woman who calls herself “Jane Doe,” contacted the campus police two years ago, the student criticizes. But the university management only took action after Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit against the alleged perpetrators, seven fraternity students.

Causey announces consequences: "It's not just the lecturers who will express their distrust in the university management. We students will also do this very soon."

Hardly any consequences for the perpetrators

What particularly outraged many of the demonstrators: Only two of the seven fraternity students had to leave Cornell. Jane Doe, on the other hand, could no longer stand sitting in lectures with her tormentors. She left the elite university.

20-year-old computer science student Nigel Tatem thinks it is important that male students also take part in the protests. He also sees the fact that the alleged perpetrators invited other fraternity students to join in on the night of the crime as the result of a toxic cult of masculinity in many student fraternities:

Young men there are taught to tolerate such behavior, criticizes Tatem. "That's why we're in favor of banning such frat parties."

First of all, no more frat parties

In fact, University President Michael Kotlikoff, who is under pressure, has announced that there will be no more parties and events organized by student associations until mid-May. For Julia Chang, professor of Spanish literature, that's not enough. In her opinion, the campus police paid for by the university must also be abolished.

Chang draws a comparison with the private sector. If a rape were to occur at Microsoft, for example, it would be absurd in their view to leave the investigation to an internal police force. “That’s absurd,” says the professor.

Governor seeks change in law

The legal situation must also change in the state of New York and in 20 other US states, demands lawyer Lizzie Asher, who traveled from Washington DC.

It is almost impossible for women to win a rape lawsuit if they have voluntarily drunk alcohol beforehand: "Once you have drunk alcohol, you agree to everything that happens the night after," criticizes the lawyer: "That's crazy!"

The Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochhul, wants to push through a corresponding change in the law in the New York State Parliament. But this would come too late for Jane Doe.