I have so many emotions regarding the case of Brock Turner sexually assaulting that young women at a Stanford college party that all I can think is I can't. I can't comprehend my own anger and horror and sadness and sense of injustice regarding the entire situation, and especially Turner's lenient sentencing. I can't say enough how much of an important impact that young woman is having through her eloquently devastating, yet determined letter. I can't express how much awe and respect I have for her to be that determined to move past this experience and finally embrace her own future and speak out for others. He may have victimized her again and again, but she is a survivor. Lastly, I cannot say how much love I feel at this movement over social media to stand with this young woman who represents the rest of us young women, who represents sisters, daughters, nieces, cousins, aunts, mothers. But I am going to try.

First, I will delve into Turner's sentencing. It's a fucking joke; he was sentenced to six months in jail and probation. For assaulting an unconscious woman. A jury convicted him of three felonies, an imprisonment of up to fourteen years, and he got six months. But because he will most likely be released for good conduct after only three, his scheduled release date is September 2nd. She has spent a year of her life fighting for herself, and he will only be in jail for a third of that time. Think about what that says. Think about how to explain that to your daughter. Better yet, don't. The justice system has already clearly told her that her safety, her self worth, her dignity, is only equivalent to three fucking months of jail time. As a nineteen year old woman, that terrifies me more than the idea of someone assaulting me in the first place. And let's talk about the fact that judge Aaron Perksy, who doled out this soft punishment, stated:

"A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others."

A severe impact on him? I'm not even going to address how ridiculous that is to say about the assailant. It's absurdity is common sense to everyone who doesn't prioritize white, male, Stanford athletes like Persky seems to. What I think is even more ridiculous is the part about Brock Turner not being a danger to others. You see, I could see that, if he understood the gravity of what he did. If he was taking responsibility for digitally raping a woman who had passed out from alcohol consumption instead of only admitting to his own alcohol consumption, I might think he could manage himself. But how is someone who is not even self-aware enough to understand his actions were wrong, even after being convicted of three felonies, supposed to be trusted to control himself around other women?

Also, as many have pointed out on social media, if he had been of a different race, the sentence would have been much different. It's true and it's completely wrong. The survivor herself brought attention to this in her letter. Furthermore, with sentences like this, we continue to mix up who is the real victim. It was not the twenty year old Brock Turner who undressed and fingered an unconscious woman, despite what his attorney has tried to prove. Even his father has spoken out about how "20 minutes of action" should not ruin the rest of his son's life. I don't care if he meant action in the most basic definition of the word, or if he intentionally chose that word to further degrade that woman and her assault, turning the events of that night into a mere sexual conquest of his son. In those so-called twenty minutes, she lost things much more vital to her that his scholarship, enrollment, and overall privilege before this case can never compare to. He may have to be a registered sex offender, but she has to be an anonymous sexual assault victim for the rest of her life. In those twenty minutes, he tried to define her, tried to put her into a category that, now, she can never completely escape from, but one that she must try to for the sake of regaining her personal identity and value. As she wrote about in her letter, she has to relearn who she is and how to get on with her daily life. Turner's life may be upside from what it was, but that is the result of his own actions. HE attacked her. HE should be held accountable. No athletic ability, family background, color of skin or gender EVER, EVER gives you the right to pursue sexual advances on someone who has not given consent. NOTHING gives you the right to do that. And if there is the slightest question of consent, as there is when one person is passed out, then there is no consent.

Second, I am in awe of how she has decided to deal with this, how she has decided to stand for all of us. I may not know this woman, but I feel like I do from her letter, which was twelve pages long and read aloud at the trial. She's a real person, with a life full of interests, goals and loved ones. It is so obvious how much she loves her sister, and her family and boyfriend, just from how she speaks protectively and lovingly of her. She also mentions past experiences in college and how her work life was interrupted due to this awful situation. This case seems to continually bring Brock Turner's lost swimming opportunities into light, while her lost opportunities have not been brought up nearly enough. I found the fact that she had to explain herself, in the letter she read during the trial, absurd. As I already said, her life was changed very drastically after the events of that night too, more than his. Because he can escape his guilt through denial, but she has decided to meet this situation head on, bravely. She is working hard to get her life back to how it was. She is surviving. And she's decided to do it for more people than herself. At the end of her letter, she wrote:

"And finally, to girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you."

In my opinion, she has every right to focus on her anger, her frustration, her loss, but she isn't. And not only is she standing for young women, she's promoting the kind of man young men should strive to be. They shouldn't be Brock Turner; they should be heroes who stop other people from harming others. They should be responsible bystanders, not assailants. They should be like the two men who happened to be riding their bikes past the scene where Turner was assaulting her and decided to stop what was happening. They didn't continue on and pretend they didn't see anything. They stopped a crime and made a difference. They simply saved her because she needed saving. I was awed that despite the injustice surrounding this case, she has made herself look at the positive points. She wrote that she drew a picture of two bicycles and hung it above her bed to "remind [herself] that there are heroes in this story."

Third and finally, I strongly empathize with the writer of this article titled "We With The Pitchforks." People should know who Brock Turner is, and what he's done, and he should be held accountable. But this case's ruling goes much further than him; every person who has sexually assaulted someone should be held accountable. That's why this whole thing is so alarming; this example of how a sexual assault case is dealt with in our United States courtrooms is horrifying. It says, "Teach your daughters not to drink and pass out, but laugh when your sons tell their own blackout stories. Teach your sons not to get caught behind a dumpster on top of a girl, but it's okay if they do, they'll just get a slap on the wrist." This perpetuates rape culture. This demeans women everywhere, and like the strong, inspiring woman who was assaulted, I'm sick of it. But so are a lot of other people, including Kristen Mae from the link above. Good. Keep writing about this. Keep sharing, keep retweeting, keep shouting until something changes. I am eager to read and share every article I see about this incident because I want this case to be the beacon of light the victim spoke of in her letter. I want to shine for her, like Vice President Biden spoke of doing. I want to scream about this injustice in the biggest, most collective way on social media's biggest platforms. I feel united with everyone who feels the same, and I hope that it goes further than Facebook and news outlets. If the Stanford Survivor cannot get her justice, let's make damn sure the next woman does. Better yet, let's try to make it so there isn't a next woman. Promote consent and respect. It should be that simple.