Broadway legend Lea Salonga expressed an ill wish to a sexual abuser following online conversations surrounding “Jane Doe.”
There is a growing trend of women saying the phrase “I am Jane Doe” as they stand in solidarity with the female Cornell University student using the pseudonym who was raped by seven fraternity members in 2024.
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The case was reopened after the victim, pseudonymed as “Jane Doe,” filed a civil lawsuit this month, accusing the fratmen of sexual assault.
Now, women are standing in solidarity with her by sharing their own sexual assault experiences or posting the phrase “#IamJaneDoe” on social media.
Lea was among those who expressed support, sharing a story about her cousin.
“No, I am not Jane Doe. But I know women who are,” she wrote on Threads on October 4.
“I still clearly remember the day one of my cousins sat me down and told me what had happened to her, at the hands of someone she was supposed to trust,” the Broadway star added.
“Already I knew him to be a bastard, a lowlife, an asshole from the stories my mother told me of him. And then this new revelation. When I heard he died, I celebrated. If given the chance, I’d dance on his grave,” Lea said.
View on Threads
Her post has garnered 10,600 likes, 116 comments, 954 reposts, and 134 shares so far, with Lea responding to some users.
“All we want is equality, not revenge. Methinks it’s time for the latter,” she said in response to a Threads user.
“Dasurve mamatay!” another Threads user said, to which Lea responded, “Sana sa pinakamasakit na paraan. Kaso, nadedo lang ata habang natutulog. Buwiset.”
Lea also said that she and her cousin “were celebrating” when they learned that the perpetrator was already dead.
Last January, women’s rights group Gabriela raised alarm over the “epidemic” of violence against women and children in the Philippines, citing a surge in brutal cases ranging from domestic killings and sexual abuse of minors to technology-facilitated violence such as AI-generated deepfakes.
“These incidents don’t happen in a vacuum. They are the result of a rotten system that devalues women and children, normalizes misogyny, and allows impunity to flourish — while people’s money that could have been spent to protect and provide services for women gets lost to corruption,” Gabriel Secretary-General Clarice Palce said before.