When I decided I wanted to write about rapist, Brock Turner, I felt a little defeated. I mean, what more is there to say? The story is disgusting, the lenient sentencing was disgraceful, and the failure of our judicial system (to actually, you know, provide justice) is a blow to young women around the world. However, as a young woman in college, the most defeating aspect of the whole story was that I wasn't all that surprised. It’s not the first time our judicial system has let us down, and it’s not the first time a white boy got away with a disgusting crime. After all, all rapists are equal, except some rapists are more equal than others.

However I realized that tragedy never strikes without bringing a sense of hope. So I invite you to use Turner’s story to ignite a sense of hope that some day there may be justice for the estimated one in five women who will experience sexual assault in their lifetime.

After all, our society seems to be in agreement about sexual assault for once. All too often, people write off rape cases like this by arguing that the victim was “asking for it” by their level of intoxication, but it’s pretty hard to argue that anyone would “ask for it” behind a freaking dumpster. This story is also great in the aspect that he literally ran from the two graduate students who caught him in the act. I mean, come on Brock, did you really think that running would make you look innocent? This story is such a perfect example of sexual assault because it’s close to impossible to argue that his actions were in any way justified.

The fact that Turner’s story is so outrageous is what allows for all of this attention from the media. While Turner’s case is not uncommon, it has caught the eye of our nation, and as an American woman, I am thankful for that because it means that people are actually talking about sexual assault.

Sexual assault is real. It happens all the time, whether the victims are intoxicated or not. It’s about darn time we start talking about it, and it’s about darn time we start demanding that rapists spend more than three months in prison for committing such a disgusting crime.

So I’m glad that people are talking about Turner because the more that people talk and educate themselves about sexual assault, the greater opportunity there is to help young people from becoming victims.

I would also like to encourage anyone who is moved by Turner’s story to remember that Turner is one example out of countless others. Declaring that Turner is the face of rape takes away from the overall fight because rape doesn’t have a face.

I think that if we get too bogged down in the absurdity of this individual case, we will forget the 683,000 American women who will be raped this year. We will also forget about the men who will be raped. We will forget about the people will be raped by their spouses. We will forget about the children who will be raped by their family members. The truth is that sexual assault doesn’t have a face. Sexual assault doesn’t look the same every time. Hating Brock Turner will not end sexual assault.

If you want Turner’s life to be ruined, then here's the good news: it is. He will never swim for a college again, he’s registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and he is probably America’s most hated man for the month of September. His life has been sufficiently ruined, and while I will never defend what he did, I will remind you that he is a human being.