On the week of August second, Brock Turner was released from jail three months early for good behavior. For those of you who may not know the story, Turner raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster and was only charged with six months in jail as punishment. The story made national headlines and made a lot of people go, “Say what?”
It seems that in the last five years alone, there has been an increase in news coverage of rape cases, of which most of the outcomes have been less than stellar. Meaning there hasn’t been much justice served. Turner was only granted six months in jail due to a California law that states only rape committed using physical violence must serve prison time.
That’s an actual law.
It seems to me that this loop hole in the system forgot to take into account the fact that rape itself is a physically violent crime. The state of unconsciousness the woman Turner raped was in shouldn’t have been used as an argument against her. He didn’t have her verbal consent, which is where the problem lies.
Rape is...well, rape. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable. So why is it if we have a hard time even saying the word, its punishment is easily made in the eyes of the law? In fact, that people are still doing it is inconceivable to me. There are actually people out there who either aren’t aware or don’t care that rape is a deeply disturbing and violating crime. Yet it’s everywhere; there’s a whole culture surrounding it.
It’s no surprise that women are constantly sexualized, slut-shamed and treated differently than men when even something as innocent as wearing a spaghetti-strapped tank top in high school is not allowed, so that girls aren’t a distraction to boys. Which speaks more about the institution than it does about its students. The notion that boys can’t handle themselves around girls with bare shoulders is pathetic, and, frankly, unrealistic. However, that’s the way it is.
In most rape cases, the woman is questioned first about what she was wearing, insinuating that on some level the attack was her fault. Because obviously she got dressed with the intention of getting raped. No. A woman’s clothes don’t define whether or not she deserves to get raped. No one deserves to get raped. Which begs the question, why isn’t more being done?
College freshmen are expected to take a course called ‘Alcohol Edu’ which is used to teach students about the dangers of drinking. Of course, one of the dangers includes sexual assault and what to do if you are a victim of it. A lot of documented rape cases take place on college campuses; not all, but a lot. The documentary “The Hunting Ground” is groundbreaking. It’s available on Netflix, and I suggest you go watch it immediately. It’s about sexual assault on college campuses across the United States and it demonstrates the hardships some sexual assault victims have gone through. A warning: It will make you mad, which it should. If you aren’t mad about rape, then you’re part of the problem.
I never thought sexual assault would happen on my campus, which is a mindset I think a lot of students share. However, recently a sexual assault case was reported by a student of the College of Charleston. I don’t want to spread any false news, as the facts of the case are a little murky to me, but from what I know, a female student was raped by two male students off campus. I am not informed of the actions that have been taken, by the College and by the local police, to right this injustice, if that’s even possible. However, I can only hope, just as I think we all hope, that every action possible is being taken.
I had a hard time writing this article because rape is not an easy topic to discuss. My intention was to not offend anyone, and I hope I’ve succeeded in that. I am in no way insinuating that only men rape and that only women are raped. Although it is typically an act of crime against women, there are men who have been raped as well and I do not want to belittle their experiences. Likewise, I am not saying that every man ever has or will rape. In fact, there’s only a small percentage of the male population who do perform the crime. I’m simply trying to continue the conversation.
