Jane Doe’s family home hit with swatting attack after Cornell rape allegations: lawyer
Lawsuit aims to change culture around sexual assault at Cornell, says lawyer Thomas Giuffra
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Giuffra → hit → Cornell
A SWAT team with assault rifles recently descended on the family home of Jane Doe, the woman at the centre of the Cornell University rape allegations, her lawyer says.
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lawyer → descend → allegations
“A group of police showed up responding to a call, because somebody had said somebody was being killed in the house,” said Thomas Giuffra, a civil trial attorney and a partner at Rheingold Giuffra Ruffo Plotkin & Hellman in New York.
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Giuffra → show → York
"Swatting" is a harassment technique involving calling police to falsely report an ongoing serious incident like a shooting or hostage-taking, in order to draw a response to a location.
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Swatting → involve → location
“Her father, her brother, a friend of hers all had weapons drawn on them,” he told The Current’s guest host Piya Chattopadhyay.
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he → have → host
Giuffra said the incident is part of escalating threats against the woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe in court documents but has faced concerted efforts to publish her identity online.
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who → say → identity
In a lawsuit filed last month, the woman alleges that she was gang raped at a Chi Phi fraternity party on the university’s campus in Ithaca, N.Y., in 2024.
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she → file → 2024
She initially reported the alleged assault to campus police but no criminal charges were laid.
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charges → report → police
Jane Doe is now suing the seven men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university and others for undisclosed damages, in a lawsuit that alleges she suffered "severe emotional and psychological distress and personal physical injury" due to the alleged assault and the university’s response.
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she → sue → assault
All seven men named in the lawsuit deny any wrongdoing.
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men → name → wrongdoing
'It's gotten considerably worse'
The case has garnered global attention, with many expressing support and outrage, but also fevered online speculation about the woman's identity.
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many → get → identity
It's gotten considerably worse,” Giuffra said.
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Giuffra → get → ?
Authorities have now re-opened a criminal investigation.
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Authorities → re → investigation
On Tuesday, Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff published a statement on the university’s website, apologizing “for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024.”
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Doe → publish → 2024
He also pledged to suspend frat parties for the remainder of the academic year, add sexual assault investigators to the campus police force and provide better supports for survivors.
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He → pledge → survivors
Giuffra welcomed the changes, but said these measures should have already been in place when they could have protected his client.
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they → welcome → client
“She's trying to change the culture of Cornell … we're trying to make sure that there are no more Jane Does,” he said.
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he → try → Cornell
“There's a real problem and maybe this is an opportunity to effectuate some kind of change … because obviously something's being lost.”
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something → be → change
Need to educate young men
Giuffra has represented plaintiffs in several high-profile cases concerning sexual assault, including lawsuits against Harvey Weinstein and Sean (Diddy) Combs.
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Giuffra → educate → Weinstein
While he once believed there was a positive change underway, he now worries the culture of sexual assault might be more prevalent than he even realized.
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he → believe → assault
It's when these guys get out of college.
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guys → get → college
It is when they get middle-aged, like I am,” he said.
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he → get → ?
He thinks there’s a need “to deal with it early on … to educate young men on how to treat women.”
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He → think → women
Stafford Perry works with WiseGuyz, a Calgary-based organization that runs workshops for Grade 9 boys about masculinity, healthy relationships and consent.
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that → work → masculinity
“WiseGuyz started because this exact conversation is not working, young men are not hearing this.
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men → start → this
So how do we create a space where they're welcomed into the conversation?” he said.
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he → create → conversation
In Perry’s work, that often starts with conversations about relationships in general, helping boys to understand their own values — and the value of relationships that aren’t violent or coercive.
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that → start → relationships
The workshops also give the boys strategies to speak up or disrupt conversations where they feel something isn’t right, something Perry said the boys are keen to do.
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boys → give → conversations
“They want to be free of these spaces that are coercive and violent and maintain this pressure,” he said.
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he → want → pressure
Young men need to do better.
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men → need → ?
And we need to support them and give those spaces to do thatStafford Perry
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we → need → spaces
Sarah Paciocco also works in sexual assault prevention training with a junior hockey team, the Soo Greyhounds, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
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Paciocco → work → Marie
She said it’s important to help boys overcome the stigma about what it means to be “manly,” and show them it’s OK to discuss healthy relationships and emotions.
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it → say → relationships
“We're getting at these boys younger and younger, where they're going to now be growing up and learning that it's OK to talk, it's OK to speak up, it's OK to speak out,” said Paciocco, who is a sexual abuse and crisis counsellor at Women In Crisis Algoma.
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who → get → Algoma
Perry said this work is “not a one-off conversation.”
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work → say → ?
“This is about building skills from a really young age … this has to be something that's consistently reinforced,” he said.
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he → build → age
“Young men need to do better.
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men → need → ?
And we need to support them and give those spaces to do that.”
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we → need → that
Cornell president not resigning
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president → resign → ?
Kotlikoff, the Cornell University president, spoke to The New York Times Tuesday, acknowledging that he learned about the incident shortly after the female student reported it in November 2024, but did not follow up in the ensuing months.
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student → speak → months
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
