'Jane Doe' solidarity posts flood social media after Cornell rape lawsuit

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'Jane Doe' solidarity posts flood social media after Cornell rape lawsuit

2026-10-04 18:19 Last Updated At：18:31

NEW YORK (AP) — It was one woman, then another, and another, until a trickle became a flood.

Countless women, and some men, posting on social media that they were Jane Doe, in support of a young woman using that name to file a lawsuit against Cornell University and seven fraternity members she accuses of raping her.

For many, claiming the name came along with sharing personal accounts of being sexually abused and assaulted, joining the wave of solidarity that has surged since journalists at the college's independent student newspaper reported on the lawsuit filing late last month.

The impetus for some of those claiming the name was a desire to offer the woman some protection in this digital age, in response to those wanting to identify her real name online. They hope the flood of “I am Jane Doe” posts will confuse online algorithms.

The posts have come in all formats — video, photo, text — across the landscape of social media platforms.

The outcry reminds many of the energy at the heights of the #MeToo movement, which exploded a decade ago. Back then women posted their stories of sexual harassment and assault in the wake of a high-profile Hollywood case using the hashtag phrase, which had been introduced in that context a decade earlier.

“These moments … are encouraging more women to speak up and tell their stories,” said Emma Davidson Tribbs, founding director of the National Women’s Defense League. “They are giving people a level of bravery and comfort to come forward and speak their truth. And they can be incredibly catalyzing for change.”

Change is what Wendy Lea Brewer wants to see, and that inspired her to post reels on Instagram with captions including “I am Jane Doe” and “It's time to speak.”

Brewer, 48, a singer, has her own experience with sexual abuse and has spoken of it in her songwriting and performing. But she felt like she was “screaming into the void” and people were not paying attention.

Outraged after hearing about the Cornell case, she went online and found community in the Jane Doe posts.

“We are all right here feeling the same thing, and we have had enough,” Brewer said.

The Associated Press typically does not name victims of sexual abuse unless they publicly identify themselves.

The use of pseudonyms like Jane Doe in lawsuits has grown in recent decades, said Diana Simon, a professor of law at the University of Arizona.

While the legal system is geared toward transparency, with the expectation that parties in a suit would be named, there can be situations that are highly private or sensitive “where it would be in the person’s best interest to remain anonymous,” she said.

But that does not mean someone's real identity would not get out, especially if people search for it.

That's why Kelsey Combe made her “I am Jane Doe” post. The idea was that numerous similar posts could provide a form of online protection to the Cornell plaintiff if her name were to be revealed, by making it harder to determine its authenticity.

“It was to confuse the AI models and stand in solidarity with her,” said Combe, a photographer in the Midwest.

She decided to do so after seeing a reel from a content creator who posts as “women_inamerica,” talking about how important it was. It had already generated responses from many women by the time Combe posted anything.

The attempt to sow confusion worked in a way Combe was not expecting, though: She later saw that AI had linked her as the actual Jane Doe, saying it was Combe that sued Cornell. She was able to get it removed, but not without getting a taste of what public critique can be like.

“It was an interesting situation, because the second that I sounded the alarm about it … a lot of people were replying, ‘Well, you asked for this. You participated in this. What did you think was going to happen?’ And I was like, ‘Well, look at that,’” Combe said.

It only emphasizes what the solidarity efforts are trying to show, that there are larger systemic issues to be addressed rather than just individual cases, she said.

“It’s standing in solidarity with her, but it’s also acknowledging that to an extent we are Jane Doe, I think the majority of us, because … we have our own experiences with sexual assault,” Combe added.

“So we are all Jane Doe until nobody is.”

Germany's Merz visits Kyiv as Russia steps up attacks on Ukrainian cities

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv Sunday in a show of support as Russia escalated its attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The aerial war has intensified, with Moscow menacing cities across Ukraine with hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, while Kyiv has been striking Russia’s oil industry and businesses.

Merz said he traveled to the Ukrainian capital on his second trip as chancellor to demonstrate his country's solidarity with Ukraine. Germany is Ukraine’s largest donor, sending Kyiv more than €43.3 billion ($48.8 billion) since the war began, along with equipment and weapons.

“If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us,” he said in a statement Sunday, adding that he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “You can continue to count on our help.”

Merz said the partnership between the two countries was “not a one-way street,” pointing to German and Ukrainian companies jointly developing technologies that benefit both sides. “This makes us safer and stronger,” he said.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy thanked Germany and said the two countries would make “important agreements” during the visit to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses and those of the rest of Europe. “Russia must be stopped together,” he wrote.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the agenda would focus on "strengthening Ukraine, our defense and resilience, and our shared European security.”

Merz and Zelenskyy visited a building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in central Kyiv that was damaged in a Russian attack on Monday, as air raid sirens sounded across the capital.

“These barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. These are daily war crimes,” Merz said at the site, a few hundred meters from the German Embassy. Addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, he called on him to end “this senseless war,” adding: “We’re ready to talk.”

Speaking in English, Zelenskyy called the attack on the academy “absolutely terrible” and noted that Russia was carrying out strikes even while the chancellor was in Kyiv. He thanked Merz for the visit, saying Ukraine was buoyed by its “strong partners.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday it would continue to carry out “mass retaliatory strikes” on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, urging foreign nationals and diplomats to leave ‌the country. It previously issued a similar warning in May.

The German and Russian foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders last month in what was believed to be the first such face-to-face meeting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia's Sergey Lavrov rejected German calls to ease off its “dangerous path of escalation” toward the country, and instead accused Germany of being Ukraine’s main sponsor and seeking to be a leading military power in Europe.

Ties between Russia and Germany have soured even more in recent weeks, following an attempted drone attack in early September at Leipzig airport. Germany has blamed Russia for the incident and announced the closure of the German consulate in St. Petersburg, the latest in a cycle of tit-for-tat moves.

Meanwhile, Merz's power inside Germany has taken a blow after a string of state election defeats last month, including losses to the anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany party. However, he said he intends to remain chancellor.

On Sunday morning, Russian attacks continued with a drone hitting Kyiv’s Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River again, Zelenskyy said. Video circulating on social media showed the drone flying into the bridge and the explosion as vehicles crossed. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The latest strike came after Russian assaults forced the full or partial closure of three of Kyiv’s six road bridges over the Dnipro River earlier this week, suspending traffic and causing tailbacks in Moscow’s latest effort to disrupt life in the Ukrainian capital. Previously, Russia has hit apartment blocks, supermarket warehouses, gas stations and data centers, among other targets.

Seven people were wounded Sunday in a Russian aerial bomb attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, local officials said.

Russia invaded its neighbor more than 4½ years ago, and there are no concrete signs that a peace settlement might be possible. Fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line snaking through northern, eastern and southern Ukraine has been virtually deadlocked in recent months.

Dazio reported from Berlin and Morton from London.