Brock Turner: a name that will live in infamy. Turner was convicted in March for intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person, but most importantly what the national media wants you to know: He was a great swimmer. So great, that various mainstream media outlets use words such as 'promising' and 'star athlete' to describe him in their headlines.
Disbelief and anger have been the prevalent emotions from the public since the announcement that Turner's 14 year sentence was overturned to six months (now more recently to four months) by Judge Aaron Persky. I have heard from every anchor, every activist and even my old friend from middle school on Facebook all the details from the case.
The last question left is, what does this mean for women and men who get sexual assaulted in the future?
Reporting rape on college campuses is at 12% in America, with this viral case and the disregard for proper punishment, will this percent drop even lower?
When it already takes maximum amount of courage for victims to step forward about their assault and report it, accounts of doubt and backlash face them from friends to strangers.
This case illustrates clearly why victims do not always report sexual assault. The sentencing is a nail in their coffin of doubt. Doubt in the justice system, doubt in society and doubt in themselves.
The public is the hammer. Millions of people cry outrage and shock, journalists write how unfair everything seems. If the general public can see the injustice, then why can't a judge?
The hammer swings, pressure upon pressure, until the nail collapses.
It is scary to think that happenings like the Stanford case occur almost daily, appalling those near and far. Rape has always been a taboo topic. The idea of "If we don't talk about it, it's like it doesn't even happen." People brush it underneath the rug like it's dust.
Dust accumulates over time, covering up transparent walls we so easily as a society convince ourselves are still so perfect. We need to start talking about rape, as a serious issue and begin to start doing something about it.
Sexual assault is a real thing. The ripple effect of this case has whip lashed America into a state of unease. Citizens across all aspects of life are addressing this issue of how we deal with rapists. I know on this platform, piles of articles dealing with sexual assault, rape culture and Turner are found being posted on the daily.
Implementing change has been difficult, examples can be found in in the simplest forms of middle school textbooks. In the time of 2016 though, gathering people who want change is.
The Stanford case has been exposed and now America is left to deal with the next headline. Where does this leave us? It has left an ugly mark but are we going to sit behind computers all day, typing out our anger or change it?
We have four months to decide.
