Brock Turner. One name that can start a wildfire of protest and anger in an instant. After sexually assaulting an unconscious girl behind a dumpster, Brock was only sentenced to six months in prison. Which doesn’t even matter because he was only released in half of that time on "good behavior."
After reading a letter from Brock's father, Dan Turner, to the judge, I feel so disgusted with the outlook that most of society has on sexual assault or as Dan likes to call “20 minutes of action.” Lets just go ahead and talk about the facts of it all. Within the U.S., one in five women will be raped at some point in their lives. This also applies to college campuses. Now I am focusing on women, not to be sexist because there are percentages of men who deal with the same thing, but the only difference is mostly men are not the targets. About 91% of reported rape victims, are women. Keyword is reported. None of these statistics include those that are not reported. Which of course, you are probably asking, “Why wouldn’t you report it?” but then my question is how can you expect women to report it whenever its treated so lightly just like the Brock Turner case?
I feel as if the entire case has been made about him rather than about the actual victim. About 81% of rape victims deal with some sort of long term issue such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). So while Brock Turner is sitting at home with his dad, eating a "big ribeye steak", this poor girl will struggle with the weight of it all for the rest of her life. No one is seeking justice for the victim but more so trying to find a happy medium or whats best for Brock, which let me remind you is a registered sex offender now. His father talks about how he is depressed and full of fear, but has he thought about how the victim feels because of his son? But I forgot, she was probably "asking for it" and we should pity Brock since she was unconscious and all. Free game right? This is the messed up idea that situations like this draw for the rest of society.
Its as if women cannot seek help or justice because it will always be defended by the phrase "she was asking for it". In this situation, the victim was unconscious. Which means, in no way was she able to give consent, let alone ask for it. His dad talked about how Brock will never be able to achieve the life that he has worked so hard for. Now, whenever I read this statement, I feel as if he is somehow trying to turn the tables and blame the victim. My thoughts for Dan is that no one has ruined your sons life, except your son. No one forced him to do anything that he did to an unconscious girl. So whenever you sit and think about it all, I hope you see the error of your ways and realize that Brock has ruined not only his own life, but also the life of another.
I do not think that justice for this could have been served in six months, but especially not in three. Brock has been banned from Stanford and can no longer continue his swimming career, but I really don't think this equals out to the amount of trauma he has caused. The fact that Brock Turner was released, literally mocks the idea of justice whenever it comes to sexual assault. How come someone who gets convicted for something like drugs for example, could expect to see 25 or more years in prison, but a rapist or sex offender like Brock Turner only see's three months? It's as if rape or sexual assault is perfectly okay or just not a big deal. He was basically given a slap on the wrist and was sent on his way and none of this adds up.
