To Aaron Persky,

You probably still stand by your decision. Despite all the outrage and everyone who has come against you, I would not be surprised if you still do not see the fault in your merciful sentence for a guilty rapist.

To Brock Turner’s father, you are probably still devastated for your son, because now his reputation is irreparably ruined. All his twenty years of hard work, down the drain by “20 minutes of action.” 20 minutes of action that also ruined someone else’s life. And maybe this is how you see it: A girl, who clearly should not have had that much to drink, is the reason your son is now the target of millions of angry people across the globe. But that perception is a little clouded, because even if she did have too much to drink, your son must still be held accountable for his action.

And to the people who agree that the sentence is justifiable and that it is the victim’s fault, or nobody’s fault except for society and today's drinking culture…. Let me help you reframe your mindset.

If you had a daughter who was raped, or if your WIFE or OWN MOTHER was raped, would you really look at the rapist and say, “Oh, he wouldn’t be able to handle jail.”

Would you REALLY look at your family member’s rapist and say, “He is too young and innocent, and he has done too much good in life to be punished for the rape of my own wife/mother/child.”

And would you REALLY look at that rapist and say, “Yeah he had his reasons to rape her since she’s beautiful. It is okay.”

Do you understand why the world is upset? Do you understand why the world is enraged at your words?

It is because neither of you have opened your mind to have empathy or understanding of the person who you cannot identify with.

Aaron Persky, you cannot identify with the rape victim, can you? You have never been raped, nor are you a female. But you see, what infuriates the world is that you do not HAVE to be her in order to empathize with her. Yet, you are so wrapped up in identifying with the boy who you can so easily relate to, that you cannot see the fault in his actions.

Brock made a choice. It does not matter if he was intoxicated. I have been around drunk men who still protect me rather than rape me. How do you explain that? Impaired judgment? No. It is a matter of personal choice. So I will say it one more time: Brock made a choice.

To Brock’s father and mother, I know you love your son. But why should he be excused from proper judgment? Why should your interference and defense excuse him when others who have been born into broken families and poverty, and others who have received no love in their lifetimes have no one to fight for them? What about those people?

What about the man serving a lifetime in prison for growing marijuana in his son’s backyard? That man did not hurt anyone.

What about the people wrongfully accused of rape? I heard a statement from Brian Banks who was sentenced for five years at SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. And guess what? He was proven innocent after he served his time. But because he was not a privileged white male—and moreover, because he had no one to fight for him, his life was taken away from him.

Where is the justice in that? Who is going to give back his lost years in prison? He was innocent. Brock is guilty. Brock ran away because he was too afraid to get caught. And yet, all he got is six months.

And now I JUST saw the article stating that Mr. Turner himself BLAMES the “SLUT” who "tricked" his son.

That is when I realized that this letter needed to be written and finished. I have debated writing this for days now, but I cannot allow this hypocrisy to continue on without saying anything.

Now let me ask you again, Mr. Turner. If your WIFE was RAPED, would you blame her? Do not argue and say that she would not drink or go out partying because that is beside the point. A woman can merely walk down the street and get raped.

I almost want to thank you for your ignorance. Mr. Turner, Aaron Persky, and all other rape-victim shamers. I almost want to thank Judge Persky for the ridiculously unjust six-month long sentence. I almost want to thank Mr. Turner for those ignorant words. I almost want to thank all victim-shamers.

Thank you, because your ignorance has sparked a fire within our nation and people are not willing to stand for this type of injustice.

This entire case has finally highlighted the reality of rape culture.

Sadly, as much as I want to blame you for your beliefs, I cannot because the victim-shaming mindset has satiated our culture for too long.

But it is time to wake up.

It is time to realize that people need to be held accountable for their own choices.

It is time for America to wake up and see how flawed, bias, and unjust our justice system really is.

It is time to do something about it.

Brock Turner should not be able to get a free pass because he is Caucasian, privileged, or a Stanford athlete. No matter what you feel toward him or what you think happened that night, he was found guilty of rape. He needs to receive the proper sentence he deserves.

No one is going to stop making their charges at you until there is a change in the sentence, an apology, or a change of heart. It breaks mine to know that that might never come. Yet, I am still writing this letter. I am still reaching out to others to stand with me and make their voices heard. I do not want to live in a world where guilty people get away with crimes simply because they can.

Sincerely,

Someone hoping to be heard.