On Oct. 28, University of California, Riverside (UCR) students participated in the “Solidarity with Jane Doe” protest from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in response to the Jane Doe v. Cornell University lawsuit, in which a former student sued Cornell University and seven of her accused rapists. The lawsuit opened a national conversaton surrounding sexual assault on college campuses. The participants met in front of the UCR Bell Tower before marching to the administrative building Hinderaker Hall and back.
The demonstration was organized by the Students for Survivors UCR, which focuses on supporting survivors of sexual assault. Founder Maya Chinai described that the demonstration aimed to directly call out UCR for their ‘complacency’ in the sexual assault of multiple students by allegedly not adequately responding to reports submitted to Title IX and Civil Rights Offices. Chinai began the protest by citing statistics such as one in four female undergraduate students on college campuses being raped. Chinai also stated, “It is a lack of action. [It’s] the institutions that promised to protect us and their negligence and neglect that is allowing these numbers to grow.”
The group began their march at 1:20 p.m., chanting “We are Jane Doe,” as they moved from the Bell Tower and around the Highlander Union Building, holding signs with phrases such as “end rape culture,” “not all men but it’s always a man” and “believe survivors.”
Once at Hinderaker Hall, which holds the Title IX and Office of Civil Right’s Offices, Chinai addressed staff looking at the protestors from the hall, stating, “Admin of UCR, you may not be rapists but I see your part. We see the part that you play in violence against women.”
Before asking other protestors to speak, Chinai went on to further assert that rape culture is an “epidemic.” She argued that students should focus on supporting each other amidst allegedly dismissive handling of reports, adding “This university, this institution, has proven that they cannot be trusted with accountability or justice. So it is up to us to build that amongst ourselves,” while offering herself and the other protestors as an expression of support for survivors of sexual assault.
One participant, who will not be named due to safety concerns, spoke in regards to their experience with Title IX processes. They stated, “I did so much paperwork, I gave up my weekends, I canceled plans in order to fill out all the goddamn paperwork for the Title IX reports and they didn’t even fucking read the evidence.”
Another student participant, Amyrose Evans, directly addressed campus administrators, stating “There are women in that building. There are women in that administration that know the pain. They have felt the sting of patriarchy, they have felt the sting of rape culture and they want this change just as much as any of us … We see you, do you see us?”
Gender and Sexualities department Non-Senate Lecturer Jessica Rehman also spoke during the demonstration, sharing that she was assaulted as a graduate student and did not receive support from administration. Rehman told the crowd, “rape should never have to impede on your academic journey … I just want to relay the message that you’re still a person.” At the end of her speech, Rehman invited students who need support to visit her office — Interdisciplinary North Building room 2047.
Overall, 10 participants besides Chinai spoke during the demonstration; largely about the function of power in the act of rape, to voice support for survivors and discuss their own assaults.
Vice President of the Office of External Affairs Joseph Anastacio expressed personal and official support for the demonstration, crediting Chinai and the other organizers for their communal work. In a statement to The Highlander, Anastacio shared, “This issue is so prevalent, not only because it connects to me personally, but being on a college campus and seeing how prevalent rape culture is and how so many times people within spaces of Greek life, within spaces of, you know, male dominated areas, there’s like a diminishing of really even raising the issue. People don’t want to talk about it … I want to be very vocal in throwing my support anywhere I can.”
After the speeches, the protestors marched back to the Bell Tower and heard Chinai deliver her final address where she stated, “We are breaking the cycle of silence that keeps us feeling isolated. That keeps us feeling alone and afraid to speak up. We are here and we are powerful and we will keep fighting.”
