I, like many people, have not been able to escape the face of Brock Turner on the internet. I open Facebook, there he is. I open Twitter, there he is. I open any news source, there he is. I can't imagine that this is even close to 1/100th how his victim feels.
I fear him. I fear men like him. It is people like him who make a little tiny part of me scared to enjoy a night out with my friends. It's men like him who make it hard out there for other men. It's men like him who disgust me.
I won't lie, I didn't pay attention to him right away. I didn't pay attention until I honestly could not escape his face.
Here is what I've learned in the past week:
He swims pretty fast. He went to Stanford University. He sexually assaulted and intended to rape a girl close to my age.
Let's elaborate.
In January 2015, Brock Turner assaulted a young, unconscious woman. Prosecutors had asked, in March, for Turner to be sentenced to six years in prison. He was sentenced to six months and will probably only serve three months.
Turner has been given a short sentence because "A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him," according to Judge Aaron Persky. His father, Dan Turner, also had something to add, saying a long sentence would be "a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 years of life."
Dan Turner claims we have all misinterpreted the phrase "20 minutes of action" after there was a wide reaction of disgust over his letter to Judge Persky on behalf of his son.
Now, what about Brock Turner's victim? What about the severe impact she is already experiencing? Dan Turner mentioned that his son will never be himself again. His victim will never be herself again. Dan Turner says his son has been anxious and depressed. I would bet $1 million that his victim is also anxious and depressed. I am sure Brock has dreams and worked hard to get to Stanford, but so did his victim before that night. That all went away that night in January, just like Brock's dreams and successes, except she did not choose to be sexually assaulted. Brock Turner chose to sexually assault her, and I hope he can accept and admit to his actions.
Turner, himself, has described his actions as the product of college, of the party culture, of a culture of drinking, peer pressure and “sexual promiscuity,” according to his courtroom statement. Turner has failed to realized that his actions are a product of himself and nothing else. Alcohol, college and partying are not excuses because not every college student has made the same fateful decision as him. The night Turner sexually assaulted is victim, he was at a party full of intoxicated people mostly all college students, only he took off his victims clothes without her consent.
Turner has also has been banned from setting foot on Stanford's campus ever again, the harshest punishment the university can impose. He has also been banned from ever being a part of the USA Swimming Association again.
We all can learn from his actions. One in four women have been raped and/or sexually assaulted. So, it is time for us all to admit and accept that we do have a problem in our society, and we need to take a stand. Comfort victims who come forward to you, stand behind the ones who go to the police about their abuse and prevent it from happening when you can. As parents, love your kids. I know Dan Turner loves his son, but with that love, there needs to be lessons. Teach kids that with terrible awful decisions, come consequences, and there is no running away from them. There is always redemption, though. We all can do better.
