The following year, her victim impact statement at his sentencing hearing went viral after it was published online by BuzzFeed, being read 11 million times within four days.
She is credited with sparking national discussion in the United States about the treatment of sexual assault cases and victims by college campuses and court systems, a topic she addresses as a public speaker.
[3] Chanel Miller was born in 1992[4][5] in Palo Alto, California,[6] the elder of two daughters of a Chinese mother and an American father.
[13][14] Miller's sister would later testify at trial that Brock Turner, a man previously unknown to her, had approached her twice and attempted to kiss her, but that she pulled away.
"[16][17] Later that night, two Swedish graduate students, Peter Lars Jonsson and Carl-Fredrik Arndt, were cycling on the Stanford campus at about 1:00 a.m., in the morning of January 18, when they spotted Turner assaulting Miller.
According to Arndt and Jonsson, they surprised Turner behind a dumpster as he was on top of Miller,[18] whose dress had been pulled up to expose her genitals,[19] her underwear and cell phone having been dropped beside her.
[19] Turner told deputies that he was the one who had removed Miller's underwear and digitally penetrated her for about five minutes, though "he denied taking his pants off and said his penis was never exposed.
As Arndt briefly went to determine whether Miller was breathing, Jonsson chased Turner, tripped him, and held him down around 75 feet (23 m) away from the dumpster, asking "What are you smiling for?
[25] She later testified at Turner's trial that at the time she regained consciousness, she had pine needles in her hair and on her body, and dried blood on her hands and elbows.
One nurse who administered a sexual assault response team examination at the hospital determined that she had experienced significant trauma (physical injury, bruising, etc.)
[28] On June 3, 2016, the day after Turner was sentenced, a 7,137-word-long victim impact statement by Miller—who was referred to in court documents and media reports as "Emily Doe"—was published by BuzzFeed,[29] and was reprinted in other major news outlets such as The New York Times.
[2] In one statement, she detailed the negative effects Turner had on her life: "You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.
"[32][33] Doe expresses gratitude to "the intern who made me oatmeal when I woke up at the hospital that morning, to the deputy who waited beside me, to the nurses who calmed me, to the detective who listened to me and never judged me, to my advocates who stood unwaveringly beside me, to my therapist who taught me to find courage in vulnerability.
[34] Representative Ann McLane Kuster, Democrat from New Hampshire, said news of the attack led her to identify herself as the victim of sexual assaults and to focus legislative efforts on the problem.
[50] On November 1, 2016, Glamour named Miller, then known only as Emily Doe, a Woman of the Year for "changing the conversation about sexual assault forever", citing that her impact statement had been read over 11 million times.
[59] Miller’s 2021 work includes a mural that covers an outdoor dining structure for Alimama Tea and Yin Ji Chang Fen on Bayard Street in Manhattan, New York.