It is troubling to continuously hear about and read news articles of campus rapes. It is even more troubling to read that the attacker does not get the criminal charge they should. The most recent case is the case of Brock Turner. I’m sure everyone has heard about this case by now, but hopefully with more access to the information, we can help stop rape on college campuses.
This case is perplexing because the rapist, father and judge are only worried about how Turner would fare in prison. He sexually assaulted a young woman behind a dumpster while she was unconscious. Why should we care what happens to the person that raped someone? We should be focused on the woman that was raped.
Let’s look at the facts:
Both had been drinking. The woman was unconscious. If someone cannot respond to consent, there is no consent. If Turner was a decent human like his father and friend who penned a letter to the judge that convicted Turner say he is, he would not have committed the crime in the first place. I don’t care if he was drinking. Alcohol doesn’t turn people into murderers and rapists. Also, if Turner was too drunk, I believe he would not have been able to act on the assault in the first place. He knew exactly what he was doing when he saw his victim.
What all people can do to learn from this:
Realize that no means no. In this situation, the victim was not able to say no. This still means no. Young boys need to be taught that consent is important for any kind of sexual encounter. Even if she says yes to one thing, she can change her mind and say no after that. It is so important that boys and girls learn about consensual sex so incidents like this do not keep happening. Men get raped too. This is not exclusively a woman’s problem.
This case shows us that a person's swimming record is more important than the crime they commit. The young woman’s letter to her rapist (Turner) depicted a woman who was clearly affected by her assault. She first learned about her assault in the newspaper of the town she grew up in. The end of the article featured Turner’s swimming times. The fact that his swimming times were more important than the crime he committed on an innocent person disgusts me. In fact, it should disgust every living human who can understand right from wrong. Sports should not take merit over crime.This poor woman has to deal with this assault her whole life and Turner only has to go to a local prison for six months. His sentence was too light. His father and the judge in this case were worried about Turner’s well being. They were not worried about the woman who was involved in a violent crime. She is a victim of a violent crime and she does not deserve to be shamed for an event that she could not have stopped or changed. Turner should have had a longer sentence.
