There are many things wrong with the United States Criminal Justice system. However, in my personal opinion, I believe that one of the most upsetting byproducts of how our judicial system works is the way in which it handles sexual assault. With over 320 million residents in the United States, there are roughly 288,820 victims of sexual assault (ages 12 and up) every year. To put this in perspective, an individual is violated in perhaps the most personal way possible every 2 minutes in the United States of America. So much for the greatest country on Earth, right? I don't understand what goes through the minds of the perpetrators who act in the despicable ways that we hear about on TV and in the news. While I myself am not a victim or for the use of a more accurate term, a survivor of sexual assault, I still find myself feeling physically sick when reading the statistics that represent the criminal consequences of the perpetrators of sexual assault.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network otherwise known as RAINN, out of every 1,000 rapes that occur 994 perpetrators will walk free. What is more upsetting than that is that this number was come to as a result of the reported and cases of sexual assault that are known of. While "only 344 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police...about 2 out of 3 go unreported". One of the most common reasons why so many rape cases go unreported is not the fault of the survivor, but the fault of the system. Our criminal justice system is broken. RAINN tells us that "perpetrators of sexual violence are less likely to go to jail or prison than other criminals". Is this the kind of nation we want to be? The kind of place we want to raise our sons and daughters? The nation where it is more likely for the individual who steals from us to go to jail than the person who takes advantage, invades and disrespects the most important aspect of our lives, our bodies? I can't be more disappointed in the amount of leniency that our justice system gives to perpetrators of sexual assault. With cases like that of John Enochs and Brock Turner, it makes me question the priorities of those in power within our justice system. However, this article is not to be another about my disappointment in the cases of the two rapists mentioned above. No, I want to focus on another story. I want to focus on the story of a woman who is strong and beautiful, the story of a woman who is trapped because our justice system continues to fail her, the story of a woman who many think is free but after reading a brilliant piece about her courage and her struggle in the New York Times Magazine I feel is not free at all. The following is my response to the most recent account of the Kesha Rose Sebert's journey for justice and the piece "The Exile: Kesha, Interrupted" by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
To give some background, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe/Kasz Money, Inc (KMI) an exclusive distribution arm of RCA owned by Sony in 2005. She was founded by her alleged rapist Dr. Luke (né Lukasz Gottwald). Together, they released her first album "Animal" in early 2010 followed by an EP titled “Cannibal” in late 2010 and then “Warrior” in 2012. According to Kesha, she was drugged, raped and emotionally abused by her producer. Since then, she has worked with him and been chained to her contract unable to be set free.
In 2014, Kesha sued Dr. Luke and asked to be released from her contract, hours later he countersued for breach of contract and defamation. In February of 2016 a New York City judge "denied her request for an injunction on her recording contract". The public ran to her corner with both celebrities and civilians alike standing by her side and providing support in every way they could. However, when faced with justice, the support of those who send their love isn't always enough when the criminal justice system fails you. In April, the same judge said Kesha’s claims weren’t detailed enough to consider and that the statute of limitations had long since passed on her allegations of rape. The claims of her being drugged, emotionally abused and raped were not detailed enough to consider. Just reading that makes me sick, I can't imagine the disappointment in our justice system the Sebert family must feel. Crippled in legal fees, Kesha who is unable to release the 22 songs she has created since her last album came, has been performing a small venues to try and stay economically afloat. Just to put into perspective, a survivor of sexual assault is not only being chained to the individual who violated her but is also drowning while just trying to be set free. In February, 16 months after she filed her first suit and 38 months after her last album was released...Kesha discovered that only Dr. Luke, had the power to release her from her contract. Unfortunately, Kesha was faced with the news that only the man who violated her was able to free her, reestablishing the fact that our justice system, the system who was created to put the criminals in jail and provide justice to those who have been wronged, has failed.
In the past few years, Kesha has changed a lot from the person I listened to when I was in middle school. While she is still the beautiful, strong, superbly talented and amazing woman who used to sing about brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack, she is also a survivor of sexual assault. A survivor who time and time again has been failed by our justice system. A survivor who just wants to be free from the person who violated her in the worst possible. A survivor who just wants to make her music heard again. In my opinion, I think freeing Kesha is the least our justice system could do. In my opinion, this strong and brilliant woman deserves to be free from her alleged rapist. This being said, we need to fix our criminal justice system and #FreeKesha.
