Beyond Brock Turner: The Larger And More Serious Problem Of Sexual Assault In America
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Beyond Brock Turner: The Larger And More Serious Problem Of Sexual Assault In America

You’ve read the letters. You’ve posted your outrage for social media. What’s next, though?

28
Beyond Brock Turner: The Larger And More Serious Problem Of Sexual Assault In America
Wired

By now, essentially all of America has come to learn about Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexual assault, and America is not happy about what they learned. The former Olympic hopeful has been sentenced to six-months for a case that can hold a sentence for up to 14-years, and a letter by Brock’s father asks for sympathy for his son because “this is a steep price to pay for 20-minutes of action out of 20 plus years of life.” This case has had accusations of white privilege, athlete privilege, continued problems of dealing with sexual assault in the legal system.

But by now you know all this. You’ve seen the mugshot. You’ve read the letters. You’ve posted your outrage for social media. What’s next, though?

America has a choice to make, the same choice they always have to make during these situations. Does America continue to vilify the person they perceive to be the face of injustice, or does it actually work towards solving the problem it became recently so outraged about? Essentially, will America do anything about the sexual assault problem in this country?

The problem is larger than people would like to admit. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, “One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives.” This problem is even higher in the gay community where 46.4 percent of lesbians and 40.2 percent of gay men reported sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes. On college campuses, it is estimated that “one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.”

Even from a monetary standpoint, the problem is overwhelming as rape is the most expensive crime, as, “Annually, rape costs the U.S. more than any other crime ($127 billion).” That averages about to about $151,423 for every rape case.

The most alarming statistic is probably how many of these cases go unreported. Estimates show that rape is the most under-reported crime, as 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police. The number of unreported cases is significantly higher for child sexual abuse (88 percent) and college students (90 percent).

This problem is so bad that Brock Turner probably is not even in the top three of most significant sexual assault cases dealing with collegiate athletics in the past year. Within the past month, Baylor football released its report on the lack of oversight in dealing with the reported sexual assaults by a member of the football team, resulting in the firing of head coach Art Briles. Ole Miss is in a similar situation, which has gone mostly unrecognized because of the timing in relation to the Baylor scandal. There, of course, was the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal at Penn State, in which a defensive coordinator for the Peen State Nittany Lions had been using his charity organization, The Second Mile, to prey on children since, according to new allegations, 1976.

Clearly fixing the issue will not be easy, and this article has no solutions, unfortunately. Any sustainable solution dealing with sexual assault will require massive social and cultural changes in dealing with and discussing these issues, just like civil rights, women rights, poverty on a global and state level, the war on drugs, the war on terrorism, religious tolerance, mental health stigma, etc., etc., etc.

The amount of problems that face humanity and America specifically is not a valid excuse for not dealing with them, though, and when a problem presents itself on a national scale, something should be done to address the entire issue and not just one specific example. So the problem of sexual assault has reared its ugly head again and the question remains to be answered: What are we going to do about it?

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
beer on the beach

Summer is hot and humid, and it's almost like summer was made specifically to drink the refreshing, cold, crisp wonderful, delicious, nutritious nectar of the gods. Which is none other than beer; wonderful cold beer. With summer playing peek-a-boo around the corner while we finish up this semester, it's time to discuss the only important part of summer. And if you haven't already guessed, it's beer. There are few things I take more seriously than my beer, in order are: sports... and beer. Here are my favorite summer brews:

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

7 Reasons SoCal Rocks!

75 degrees and sunny, plus, no humidity. I mean do I really need to say more?

1297
woman in black and white long sleeve shirt carrying girl in red jacket in Venice beach
Photo by Jeff Hopper on Unsplash

SoCal summers are the best summers by far, and honestly, no argument is needed. But, if you aren't sure why SoCal summers are the best, here are 7 reasons why!

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

25 Lyrics for Selfie Captions

Because let's be honest, we all use lyrics.

53686
woman takes a selfie for social media
Pixabay

Sometimes you can't think of the perfect caption for your Instagram post. I love using lyrics as my captions because there's so many great lines in songs that just seem to fit in the moment. Here are some lyrics that could work for your selfie or pictures of you with your friends!

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Bruce Springsteen's Top 7 Lyrics

Everything Bruce says in his classic rock songs.

20148
bruce springsteen album cover born in the usa

Anyone who was born and raised in New Jersey (or anywhere really) knows of Bruce Springsteen, whether or not they like him is a whole other situation. I hope that his hundreds of classic rock songs and famous high energy performances, even in his sixties he can put on better concerts than people half his age, are at least recognizable to people of all ages. Love him or hate him (I identify with the former) you have to admit that some of his songs and interviews have inspirational quotes and lyrics.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

New England Summers Are The BEST Summers

Why you should spend your next summer in New England.

4515
Marconi Beach

Three years ago, I chose to attend college in Philadelphia, approximately 360 miles away from my small town in New Hampshire. I have learned many valuable lessons away from home, and have thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Pennsylvania. One thing that my experience has taught me, however, is that it is absolutely impossible to beat a New England summer.

You cannot beat the beach. Believe it or not (which many people may not), New England has a long and beautiful coastline. Most of my high school summers were spent sitting on the Wall at Hampton Beach, getting sunburnt and eating Acai bowls from The Secret Spot. The Wall was the place to be both during the day and at night. We begin our days there with a KB's bagel and coffee, and end them with pizza and ice cream. It’s not a New England summer without that 4 p.m. text from someone, “Who wants to meet at the Wall tonight?” Nighttime is for Tripoli’s Pizza, the sound of waves, and wishes on shooting stars. Wednesday nights are especially important, as those are the nights that Hampton Beach sets off the weekly firework display.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments