If a person’s story changes in the weeks following an alleged sexual assault, are they not telling the truth?

It’s a criticism I’ve seen on social media and heard in the public conversation surrounding the lawsuit filed in September 2026 by a plaintiff known as Jane Doe, a former student at Cornell University, accusing seven male students of rape.

Initially, Doe discussed events with her friend a friend but reportedly didn’t identify them as assault. It wasn’t until weeks later, when her experience was labeled as a gang rape by others, that she came forward to authorities.

Survivors are often questioned about how they relay their stories. When societal expectations about how rape survivors should respond do not align with the victim’s experience, it’s easy to assume that the victim is lying and the assailant is innocent.

Research indicates 60% to 70% of female rape survivors do not identify their experience as rape. That’s especially true for college students. Instead, rape survivors often describe their experience in more general terms, referring to it as “bad sex” or “miscommunication.” That’s both because of how sexual assault affects a survivor’s mind, brain and body and because of how society thinks about rape.

In my experience as a psychologist doing crisis intervention work with rape and sexual assault victims, it is very common for survivors to prefer to continue as if the assault never happened and to be driven by a strong desire to return to........

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