The victim of the highly publicized Brock Turner rape case is staying anonymous for a reason,KVTU reports.
In an statement obtained by the station Wednesday, the victim, known only as Jane Doe, explained she is not revealing her name or face in order to protect her identity and make a statement.
“I don’t need labels, categories, to prove I am worthy of respect, to prove that I should be listened to,” she says in the statement.
“I am coming out to you as simply a woman wanting to be heard,” she adds. “Yes there is plenty more I’d like to tell you about me. For now, I am every woman.”
Not much is known about the woman, who is not a Stanford student and was visiting the campus to attend a party with her younger sister.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said the victim “was so heavily intoxicated (at the time she was assaulted) that she did not regain consciousness until hours later.”
Many have lauded the woman’s bravery, especially for the courageous statement she read in court to her attacker.
I wish I knew the name of the woman who testified against Brock Allen Turner so that I could thank her by name.
— Meghan Sullivan (@meggsully) June 4, 2016
If anyone can put me in touch w the fine, amazing heroic woman who was raped by Brock Allen Turner, I'll be eternally grateful. I love her.
— ANNE LAMOTT (@ANNELAMOTT) June 4, 2016
Turner was charged with assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person.
He was found guilty of the January 2015 sexual assault and sentenced last week to six months in a county jail and three years’ probation, a stark contrast to the maximum 14 years in prison he faced. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The sentence drew outrage across the country as many viewed it as far too lenient. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, who issued the ruling, said Turner’s “moral culpability” was comprised by alcohol. State prison, Persky said, could have a “severe” impact on Turner’s life.
A statement by Turner’s father, Dan, drew further outrage when he said his son’s sentence was “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life.”
John Pavolovitz, a blogger and pastor based in Wake Forest, N.C., penned a letter of his own in response, which has since gone viral.
“The idea that your son has never violated another woman next to a dumpster before isn’t a credit to his character,” Pavolovitz wrote. “We don’t get kudos for only raping one person in our lifetime.”
Jaime Gordon is a student at Duke University and a USA TODAY College correspondent.
