A new campaign has emerged on Kazakh social media to support «Jane Doe,» a young woman whose real name is being withheld as the investigation continues, after she filed a complaint accusing seven Cornell University students of gang-raping her.
Users are sharing their own experiences of sexual violence under the hashtag #IamJaneDoe. Over the past two days, Threads has been flooded with such posts, with young women — and even men — in Kazakhstan joining the campaign. Some have written about being sexually abused by older brothers, fathers or grandfathers during their teenage years or even in early childhood.
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Users share their stories
«I am Jane Doe. My name is Nazym; his name is Yerasyl. I was 8, and he was 14 — my older brother.»
«I was 5, and he was 20. He was a neighbor in the village, and it happened about 10 times. Eventually, I reached a point where I couldn’t control my bowels, so I told my grandmother. A major conflict ensued, and I was sent back home to the city,» a user named Aliaskar wrote.
«I saw a psychotherapist when I was 20 because I was having nightmares and couldn’t sleep. After one therapy session, I happened to visit the village. Only after I had ‘settled the score’ with him did I finally find peace in my sleep. He is currently in prison for reasons unrelated to me.»
There are many similar posts.
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Human rights defender joins campaign
Among those participating in the trend is prominent human rights defender Lazzat Rakisheva, founder of the «Human Rights Lawyers» public association.
Rakisheva wrote that she was sexually assaulted at age 6 by a neighbor named Kanat, who was 18 at the time.
«I lost consciousness from the intense pain and fear. I wept silently, afraid even to move. That day, my childhood ended,» she wrote.
Echoes of the #MeToo movement
The campaign resembles the #MeToo movement, which became a global phenomenon in 2017. At the time, dozens of women, including actresses, accused prominent Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault.
Actress Alyssa Milano subsequently encouraged women who had experienced sexual violence to share their stories on social media using the hashtag #MeToo.
Within the first 24 hours, the hashtag had been used more than half a million times and became a trending topic.
