In this day in age, rape on college campuses is a very prominent issue facing many college students. According to oneinfourusa.org, one in four college women report having survived a rape or attempted rape. This number is shocking and is not being helped by the legal system in our country that consistently sets out to discredit the victim. This is certainly the case when examining the trial of Brock Turner.
In January of 2015, Stanford student Brock Turner was caught raping an unconscious woman behind a campus dumpster. In March of this year Turner was found guilty of sexual assault on three counts. Despite a suggested sentence of six-years, California judge Aaron Persky passed a sentence of six-months in a county jail. He feared that a harsher sentence would have too great an impact on the champion swimmer who had aspired to competing in the Olympics. Once again, this decision demonstrates the unfair way in which rape victims are treated in the court system. The judge was more concerned with the long-term well-being of a convicted rapist rather than the severe emotional and physical tolls currently being paid by his victim.
Although the name of the woman has not been released, she has released a powerful statement recounting her experience throughout the whole legal process. She starts by addressing Turner directly stating "You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me, and that’s why we’re here today."
She also goes on to discuss her reaction to the sentence by openly stating that "The probation officer’s recommendation of a year or less in county jail is a soft time-out, a mockery of the seriousness of his assaults, an insult to me and all women."
She feels let down by the legal system that is supposed to be protecting her. Although the judge couldn't go back and change what had happened, he failed in his job of providing justice to a young woman who had her life turned upside down by a man who took advantage of her. It is a powerful testament to the thousands of men and women who are put into similar situations every year. If we ever hope to have a truly just legal system, people like Judge Perksy need to stop trying to find justify rape. Victim blaming is a very large problem in our society and I can only hope that this very publicly controversial case is eye opening to many who still deny these kind of injustices.
To learn more about the case you can visit The Cut or to read his victim's response to the case, you can find it on Buzzfeed.
