Sharon Stone has turned a celebrity spotlight on the issue of sexual assault on US college campuses.
The actress delivered an emotional tribute to the woman who was assaulted while unconscious last year by a former Stanford University swimmer.
She was discovered slumped unconscious behind a dumpster, by two appalled cyclists who witnessed the attack on her and, horrified, gave chase as her assailant ran away.
She wiped back tears during a 25-minute reading of excerpts of the victim’s letter to her attacker, Brock Turner.
Afterwards, she called the letter “monumentally powerful” and said it was impossible to read “without having it just impale your heart and soul”.
The victim’s letter swept through social media.
It has galvanised critics of Turner’s sentence and igniting a debate about campus rape and the criminal justice system.
Turner was released after serving half of his six-month sentence.
Earlier this month, Emily Doe – as she came to be known – was named a Woman of the Year at Glamour magazine’s annual awards.
In an essay she wrote for the magazine, the courageous young woman said: “When we all make it a priority to avoid harming or violating another human being…
“And when we hold accountable those who do, when the campaign to recall this judge declares that survivors deserve better, then we are going somewhere.”