Trigger warning: Sexual assault, rape.
Why does rape and sexual assault remain a topic that is deemed unworthy of discussion by the general public? How is it that mass media attempts to remain neutral in their reports of incidents, yet, the language they use almost always favors the perpetrator and neglects the survivor? I am tired of seeing case after case gain turbulence in the public spotlight but eventually disappear from memory until another person is raped or assaulted. When will people realize that this is an issue that can't simply be swept under the rug? Every day women are objectified, dehumanized, and exposed to acts of violence and assault just because of the bodies they are born into. One thing remains certain to me: Although women are victimized, they should not be seen solely as victims. They are survivors and fighters and should be acknowledged as such.
What led me to this tangent is the utter disgust I have for the ruling in the Stanford rape case. Last January, Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, was found raping an unconscious, half-naked woman behind a dumpster. He had the possibility of facing up to six years in prison after being charged with three counts of sexual assault. The court judge instead served him with six MONTHS in Santa Clara county jail. Privilege is receiving far less punishment for a heinous crime, while other serve longer sentences for "crimes" that do not amount to what Brock Turner did. Privilege is not having to take full responsibility for what you have done while the woman has to live with the emotional scars and trauma that was unwillingly inflicted upon her every day. The survivor told Turner at the sentencing hearing, "you took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice" (Source: SF Gate), but Turner on the other hand receives a mere 6 months of punishment.
Rape is rape regardless of the situation. If a person does not give their consent for you to touch, feel, and have sex with them you are in fact raping them and there is no getting around it. If a person is incoherent and unresponsive it should be more of a reason NOT to touch them, and should be a signal that they need your help and not for you to harm them. No one has the right to justify raping someone because there is never a reason where it can be seen as acceptable or warranted. Until the public realizes this the issue will continue to persist. Until courts, administrators, or those in power begin to acknowledge the validity of the survivors experience and handle it properly the issue will continue to persist. There is never a reason for someone to be raped and sexually assaulted, and until we all collectively embrace this idea, the issue will unfortunately continue to persist.
