Here's a not-so-fun fact about rapists: 97 out of every 100 rapists receive NO punishment.
Let that sink in. That statistic is SAD. That means that only three rapists will get to sit in a jail cell as punishment for what they did. So what happens to the victims of the 97 rapists who are left to roam the streets free? Well, they get to live in fear of it happening to them once again.
So, why has our justice system let down their people in this tremendous manner?
According to RAINN, "only about one out of four reported rapes leads to an arrest, and only about one out of four arrests leads to a felony conviction and incarceration."
No matter what the person does for a living, they should have to pay for what they have done. But here is the sad truth: A promising swimmer (the infamous Brock Turner) and a bus driver (Alexander Rodriguez) BOTH got a light sentence. Brock Turner will get the spend 6 months in jail for raping a woman while she was unconscious. Unfortunately, the sentence will likely be shorter than that if he is released on "good behavior". On the other hand, Alexander Rodriguez will not spend A SINGLE NIGHT IN JAIL. And he raped a MINOR that was on his bus so she could get home safely...
This is the said truth about our justice system. It lets these guilty men roam the streets free at the expense of having other women (or men) be terrorized by these heartless monsters.
What is the reasoning for many of these instances?
Well, in the case of Brock Turner, he had a "promising future" ahead of him and a crime like this would ruin it all for him. How about the young woman he raped? Did the judge not think that SHE had a promising future ahead of her?
In Alexander Rodriguez's case, the lawyer was able to demean the character of a MINOR and say that she "wanted it".
Why is it that rape is always blamed on the woman? This notion was made acceptable by the justice system.
The FBI defines rape as "“Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."
By this definition ALONE, how can it be a woman's fault that she is raped? If consent is not given, then it is rape. If she's screaming in your face "this hurts, please stop," then that's rape.
There is no if, ands, or buts around it. RAPE IS RAPE. No matter what the woman was wearing, she did not provoke the rape. She was the victim. Stop victim blaming. This is a trend in our current culture that needs to change. The sooner this change can occur, the better off people (especially victims) will be.
