For those who know me, this article will seem like another typical rant of mine. But for those who don’t, you’re about to see the vicious feminist side of me that refuses to let social injustices be forgotten about.
So unless you live under rock, odds are that you’ve heard about the infamous Brock Turner trial, and how this criminal was released after 3 months of his imprisonment for rape. His original sentence was 6 months, but we live in a society where white boys can get away with anything, so he was released without serving his full time. This incident doesn’t shock me, but it sure as hell infuriates me.
Here are the facts: 1 out of every 6 women in the US has been the victim of rape or attempted sexual assault. 1 in 6. This statistic is outrageous. It’s horrid to picture myself with five of my friends in a room knowing that one of us is likely to get raped at some point in our lives. It’s hard to prevent these things from happening, but it’s not hard to make sure that people like Brock Turner receive consequences to their actions. These girls, these are our mothers, our sisters, our friends, our aunts, our cousins, our daughters. And it’s the unfortunate truth that we live in a country that glorifies rape culture.
Yet for some reason, society likes to blame the victim. She should’ve been watching her drink. She wore a short skirt. She was asking for it. But the truth is, it’s not the victim’s fault. That’s why they’re the victim. But that’s not the point. RAPE IS RAPE AND IT’S BAD. Frankly, I don’t understand what’s so hard about sex being consensual, but it has evolved into this giant mess. In millennial America, I thought women’s rights mattered and that our judicial system could remain above water, but I guess not.
As a young woman on a large college campus, I can personally tell you how terrifying it is to be so susceptible to sexual assault. I grew up with my parents always telling me to watch people pour my drinks and to always suspect that boys want one thing from me. Yet every night, I can’t help but hold my breath as I walk the dimly lit street to my apartment clutching my pepper spray hoping that I don’t get assaulted before I can get to the door. And I’m sure that every girl on college campuses and in places all over the country feel the same way. And that’s one of the problems. We shouldn’t have to feel that way.
And another problem is knowing that if (God forbid) someone is sexually assaulted, the attacker could get off the hook with minimal jail time for ruining someone’s life. That’s the world we live in, and it’s sickening. There are so many people in jail serving more time for doing something as simple as holding a joint. Yet, Brock Turner got out after three months for three attempts of rape. A month in jail per victim. I’m not sure if he got off easy because he’s a white male of the upper class, or if it was because he was a great swimmer at Stanford. Neither of those reasons are good enough for three. Ridiculously. Short. Months.
But what bothers me the most is that people were sticking up for him. I understand where his family is coming from. They’re his family and they want to be there for him through thick and thin. But you can’t ignore the fact that he took advantage of intoxicated girls for his own pleasure. His mother repeatedly begged the internet to forgive her son and claimed that he was so much more than the monster the media made him appear to be. That could be true, but he ruined all chances of that happening the moment he unzipped his pants.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the last case like this that we’ll hear. There will always be another Brock Turner. Another privileged and pathetic boy who waits for a girl to drink just a little too much so he can get his rocks off. There will always be another boy who thinks the law is below him and that no consequences will come his way. There will always be someone willing to sweep the injustices under the rug. There will always be someone trying to silence victims of assault. But we can’t let that happen. If no one else stands up, who will?
