If I were to be robbed, would you believe me? Would you dare to ask what I was wearing? How many drinks I had? How could I not expect such a thing to occur if I was wearing a fancy watch? Because it would be considered asking for it right? No. No one asks to be the victim of a heinous crime. So why does society ask these foolish questions to sexual assault victims?
Some believe rape culture is not real, and there is no sexual assault epidemic. However, every two minutes, an American is sexually assaulted. Statistically, women and girls experience sexual violence at higher rates— one out of six women have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Yes, men, we know what you’re thinking. Men do get raped, but in fewer instances compared to women. one out of 10 of every rape victims is male, leaving 90% of rape victims to be female. Statistics show that sexual violence is more prevalent at college.
College women are twice more likely to be sexually assaulted than to be robbed, so why is sexual assault taken less serious when it is twice more likely to occur? On average, women ages 18-24 who are college students are three times more likely than women in general to experience an act of sexual violence. However, TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students are at a higher risk for sexual violence. 21% of TGQN college students have been sexually assaulted versus the 18% of on-TGQN females and 4% of no-TGQN males.
Last year, in January of 2015, a student at Stanford University by the name of Brock Turner, participated in the act of sexually assaulting an unconscious and intoxicated woman. While performing this act, two international students from Sweden intervened and apprehended Turner because the woman appeared to be unconscious. While approaching, Turner fled, but the two men chased and apprehended him until the police arrived. Turner was arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of attempted rape. However, he was released the same day subsequently posting bail at $150,000.
The trial of this case, which began in March of 2016, has sparked widespread controversy and criticism, following the defendant’s jail sentence. With a potential sentence of 14 years in prison, prosecutors recommended six years, but Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, sympathized with the defendant, worrying that a long imprisonment could have a “severe impact” on the defendant’s life. With that, Judge Persky sentences Brock Turner to a six-month sentence with three years of probation and the registration of a sex offender. Turner only spent three out of the six months of his sentence in prison (which he spent in protective custody), being released September 2, 2016.
Following two weeks after a rape, 90% of victims experience PTSD symptoms; following nine months, 33% of victims report of suffering from PTSD; 33% contemplate suicide; 13% attempt suicide. Rape and sexual assault in general, break down a person’s worth, however when you add in the fact that most victims are blamed for what has happened to them, with questions such as “What were you wearing that night?”, “How many drinks had you had?”, “Was there a chance that you were being, in any way, provocative?”, or the fact, that if a woman is wearing a dress and happens to be sexually assaulted, she must have been asking for it, right? Or she should expect something like that to happen while wearing such a thing, right? No, because no one deserves to be dehumanized by a traumatic event such as rape, no matter what you look like, what you wear or who you are.
(Sources: https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence, https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stanford-rape-case-read-the-impact-statement-of-brock-turners-victim-a7222371.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner)
