--- title: Joe Biden Pens Open Letter to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim description: "I do not know your name—but I will never forget you. The millions who have been touched by your story will never forget you." canonical: https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-09T18:12:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:30:18.171Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim: 'A Lot of People Failed You' og:description: "I do not know your name—but I will never forget you" og:url: https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2942fc6a222068cf/698897230b72e3f57d6e9bf2/joe-biden-letter-assault-victim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-HEALTH-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim: 'A Lot of People Failed You' twitter:description: "I do not know your name—but I will never forget you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2942fc6a222068cf/698897230b72e3f57d6e9bf2/joe-biden-letter-assault-victim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Joe Biden to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim: 'A Lot of People Failed You' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jun 9, 2016 6:12 PM UTC  Vice President Joe Biden listens as Barack Obama speaks after a meeting about the Zika virus in the Oval Office of the White House in Wahington, D.C. on May 21, 2016. Vice President Joe Biden listens as Barack Obama speaks after a meeting about the Zika virus in the Oval Office of the White House in Wahington, D.C. on May 21, 2016.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jun 9, 2016 6:12 PM UTC Vice President Joe Biden has a message for the victim of a sexual assault at Stanford University after reading[ the powerful letter](http://motto.time.com/4357618/stanford-sexual-assault-victim-letter/?iid=sr-link5) she read out loud to her attacker in court. In a letter from Biden published _by_ [_BuzzFeed_](https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/joe-biden-writes-an-open-letter-to-stanford-survivor?utm%5Fterm=.hrxPQzAeR#.tc1qQ9Pb4), the Vice President thanked the woman for sharing her story, telling her that “a lot of people failed you” through their inaction during the incident. “It must have been wrenching—to relive what he did to you all over again,” Biden said. “But you did it anyway, in the hope that your strength might prevent this crime from happening to someone else. Your bravery is breathtaking.” Stanford student Brock Turner was convicted of assaulting the woman while she was unconscious. A judge gave him [a lenient six month sentence](http://motto.time.com/4358220/brock-turner-dad-letter/?iid=sr-link8)—[which sparked outrage and drew attention to the case](http://time.com/4359265/stanford-brock-allen-turner-judge-recall/?iid=sr-link2). Biden commended the survivor for sharing her story, saying her bravery would help make the world a better place. “Your words will help people you have never met and never will. You have given them the strength they need to fight. And so, I believe, you will save lives,” Biden said. “I do not know your name—but I will never forget you. The millions who have been touched by your story will never forget you.” Read the [full letter](http://Joe Biden Pens Open Letter to Standford Sexual Assault Victim) over at BuzzFeed News. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/"},"headline":"Joe Biden to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim: 'A Lot of People Failed You'","datePublished":"2016-06-09T18:12:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:30:18.171Z","description":"\"I do not know your name—but I will never forget you\"","url":"https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/","keywords":["White House","California","Rape","Sexual Assault","Joe Biden"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2942fc6a222068cf/698897230b72e3f57d6e9bf2/joe-biden-letter-assault-victim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2942fc6a222068cf/698897230b72e3f57d6e9bf2/joe-biden-letter-assault-victim.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-HEALTH-OBAMA","caption":"Vice President Joe Biden listens as Barack Obama speaks after a meeting about the Zika virus in the Oval Office of the White House in Wahington, D.C. on May 21, 2016.","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4363084/joe-biden-standford-sexual-assault/","name":"Joe Biden to Stanford Sexual Assault Victim: 'A Lot of People Failed You'"}}]}] ```