When Olivia Petter first saw the news about the sexual assault allegations at Cornell University, she was shocked by how familiar parts of the story felt for her.
"The more I found out, the more triggered I became," she said. "I think for me, the worst thing was seeing the group messages that these boys were allegedly sending to each other on the night of the alleged rape."
Reading those exchanges brought the London-based author back to boarding school in England, where she says older boys targeted her and her friends from the age of 13.
"They would walk past us and whisper 'Fresh meat,'" Petter said. "They would rate us out of ten and shout numbers at us when we walked down to the dining hall." Petter says she recalls boys pulling down girls' trousers while they held their lunch trays, humiliating them in the school cafeteria.
After a party, when she was 17, she remembers a boy putting a "hand down my pants" when she was trying to go to sleep. "No preamble. We hadn't been kissing... and I was kind of wriggling, trying to get him to stop."
"The thing that people need to understand is when something like that happens to you, it's really hard to just say, no, get off me, because your body goes into this panic mode," she said. "You freeze and it takes a while for you to understand what's happening."
"There were just so many instances of sexual assault and we didn't really recognize it at the time because we didn't have the language," she said, adding that the culture continued into her time at university.
Petter, now 32, is among those sharing their own experiences online in response to the recent rape allegations that have emerged at a Cornell University fraternity house.
A former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, sued the university and seven former students last month, alleging she was drugged and repeatedly raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, when she was 20 years old. Attorneys for some of the men have denied the accusations.
The case has led to a wider reckoning over attitudes to sexual violence. On social media, many women have been using the hashtag #IamJaneDoe to discuss their own experiences of sexual assault and rape.
Other universities have acknowledged the issue, too. As the case has become a national news story, the editorial board of The Daily Pennsylvanian — a student newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania — published a recent piece titled "Penn has a Cornell problem, too."
For some survivors, following the coverage can feel like reliving an earlier assault, says Hannah Braunstein, a Washington D.C. based psychotherapist and trauma specialist. She says stories like these can bring back more than just memories for people who've been sexually assaulted.
"Suddenly, they're inundated with all of this news and then their own experience through memories or body sensation is beginning to unfold for them. It can be absolutely horrifying," Braunstein said. "And it can immediately transport them back in time."
For Erin Smith that reaction was immediate. The yoga instructor and mindfulness coach, who lives in Winchester, Ky., first saw the news about Cornell on social media and immediately searched for more details.
"I was so enraged, I set my phone down and just paced around my kitchen like a caged tiger," Smith recalled. She says the story brought back the physical distress she remembered from being assaulted as a child.
"I had that feeling in my stomach that happened during my experience [when] I was 12," said Smith, who is now 53.
Braunstein says repeated exposure to stories like these can intensify emotions. Yet, people may feel compelled to keep reading, hoping more information will help them feel better.
"We keep searching for more information because we think if we understand every detail, then finally we'll feel better internally," she said. "But, often it does the opposite, and keeps people activated internally."
Braunstein recommends using a timer to keep news or social media checks to five minutes a day. When someone feels overwhelmed, she suggests turning their attention to their immediate surroundings.
"One thing I talk about with clients in my office is using first sight, looking around the room and calling out what you see, noticing what you hear," she said. "Feeling your feet on the floor. That's a grounding technique that works."
Smith said she eventually recognized that she needed a break from the comments on social media. Spending time outside, being with her dog and playing guitar has helped her feel calmer. But, she said the anger remains, so she has started to write about it.
Petter also turned to writing. As she continues following the case, she wants to use her anger to start a dialogue around sexual assault.
"I want to hold on to the rage because I think rage is powerful and will enable me to have these conversations with the people in our lives," she said. "And when I say people, I mean men."
Petter says she wants men to have those conversations among themselves, too, and challenge derogatory comments about women within their own friend groups, including online.
For Smith, the Cornell case feels personal because it brings so many survivors of sexual assault back to their own experiences.
"I think that's why so many women are triggered right now, because Jane Doe is all of us." she said. "We all have some sort of story."
Copyright 2026 NPR
