Chanel Miller Reads Powerful Poem About Sexual Assault Survivors at Glamour Women of the Year Awards

“I don’t give a damn.”
Chanel Miller speaks onstage at the 2019 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards at Alice Tully Hall on November 11 2019 in New...
Getty Images for Glamour

After being honored at the 2016 Glamour Women of the Year Awards as the anonymous sexual assault survivor Emily Doe, Chanel Miller took the stage at the 2019 awards on November 11 to read a powerful poem in support of survivors everywhere.

Miller revealed her name in September 2019, after being known to the world as the anonymous survivor in the Stanford sexual assault case for many years. With her book Know My Name, Miller not only came forward with her name but also her story, which she said was her way of showing the world she's "so much more" than the painful details of her assault. At the 2019 Glamour Women of the Year Awards, Miller continued to show the world exactly how powerful she is, reading a poem she wrote called "I Don't Give a Damn."

"I don’t give a damn/ What you were wearing/ I don’t give a damn how much you drank/ I don’t give a damn/ If you danced with him earlier in the evening/ If you texted him first/ Or were the one to go back to his place," Miller said, according to Glamour. "People may continue to come up with reasons 'why it happened'/ But the truth is, I don’t give a damn."

She then shifted to what she does give a damn about and why it matters so much.

"But I do/ give a damn/ How you’re doing/ I give a damn about you being okay/ I give a damn if you’re being blamed for the hurt you were handed/ If you're being made to believe you’re deserving of pain," she said. "The only reason I am standing here/ Is because people gave a damn about my well being/ Even when I did not/ They reminded me that I carry light/ And I deserve to be loved/ Even when I forgot. They gave a damn/ That’s why I am who I am today."

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"So here’s the takeaway/ When we step up for survivors/ When we stop sealing them off in shame/ When we quit interrogating them with stupid questions/ Look what happens," she continued. "Books are written, laws are changed/ We remember we were born to create/ To not only survive, but look hot and celebrate/ Tonight you must come away knowing/ That I will always, always give a damn about you/ The way you gave a damn about me."

Since the start of her trial in the Stanford sexual assault case, Miller said she's learned a lot about herself, which seems evident in her poem. She previously told Teen Vogue that she now "understand[s] that being hurt is not a natural thing or an acceptable thing, that I deserve to be treated much better. That I deserve to be cared for constantly. That I should be lifted after an event like this and not torn apart." This is exactly the support she's offering other survivors in her poem. But it's not the first time Miller has opened her arms to sexual assault survivors. When she released her victim impact statement anonymously, she told Teen Vogue that she felt it was important that her name wasn't attached to it so that it could speak for many, not just one.

"I think when the statement exploded it was important that I remain anonymous to show that I could have been anybody. All of the support that was flooding in should be for anyone who is assaulted," Miller previously told Teen Vogue. "It really didn’t matter who I was, and that’s the point: It can happen to any of us. We shouldn’t be blamed, we shouldn’t be attacked for personal characteristic traits in something that is so blatantly violent. When the statement went out, I was glad that space was left empty to prove that it doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are, what you look like, what your sexual history is. You don’t deserve this. This should not be happening. We need to provide love and support and care."

Her statements about anonymity and her poem go to show just how powerful Miller's advocacy for both herself and other survivors is.

Related: Chanel Miller, Stanford Sexual Assault Survivor, on Reclaiming Her Identity and Revealing Her Name