I’m sure that everyone is aware of the recent Stanford rape case involving Brock Turner, but in case you don’t know what I’m referring to, I will provide a brief summary of the case. In January of 2015, Brock Turner raped a young woman who he had met at a party. Fortunately, two other students rode past on their bikes and tackled Turner, saving the victim from any further violation. The victim pressed charges and a little over a week ago, Turner received his sentence of only six months behind bars, three years of probation, and sex offender status. Let me repeat that: only six months of jail time. Six months. Turner brutally raped a woman, but the judge let him off easy because he didn’t want to cause Turner any emotional or mental damage. But it doesn’t end there. Turner’s sentence has already been shortened to four months because they expect him to have good behavior while in prison.
In his defense statement, Turner blamed the “party culture” for his actions, saying that the pressure to drink alcohol and have sex were largely to blame. This kind of excuse comes up in a great deal of campus rape cases, which is problematic for two reasons. One, it allows the perpetrator to deny any responsibility for his/her actions. Two, it is a double standard. Somehow being inebriated excuses the rapist’s actions, while condemning the victim. This is one example of the rape culture that we live in.
Now, what exactly is “rape culture”? Rape culture is a term that refers to the ways in which society puts the blame on the victims of sexual assault, rather than on the perpetrator. It also refers to the fact that violence against women has been normalized in our society.
The Stanford rape case is a perfect example of rape culture, due to the fact that the media sympathized with Turner, rather than the victim of his heinous crime. In addition, Judge Aaron Persky also sympathized with Turner, which is extremely discouraging, seeing as Persky is supposed to be an unbiased third party. This phenomenon of rape culture is also demonstrated through the blame that was placed on the alcohol and party culture, rather than on Turner himself.
Another aspect of this case that’s particularly problematic is the institutional racism that it demonstrates. Institutional racism occurs when different social and political organizations treat a group negatively based solely on their race. If all rapists were given such light sentences, regardless of their race, then this wouldn’t be a problem of race, but of our society accepting rape. But, this isn't the case. Let’s take a look at Cory Batey’s case. He was found guilty of raping an unconscious girl while at a party and he’s facing between 15 and 20 years in prison. Batey is a black man, attending Vanderbilt University. It is obvious how vastly different Turner and Batey’s sentences are. Even if Batey gets the minimum sentence, he will still be in prison for 14 and a half more years than Turner, a white man.
In this example, Batey’s sentence isn’t the one that’s problematic, it’s Turner’s. Every rapist deserves to spend several years in prison, no matter what their race is, but white privilege and institutional racism prohibits that from happening. People of all races need to be sufficiently punished for their crimes. Their punishments need to be proportional to their crime, rather than their race and potential.
The Stanford rape case exposes a harsh reality about our society. It reinforces the belief that we live in a rape culture and that institutional racism continues to exist. When boys like Brock Turner only have to spend four months in prison for raping an unconscious woman, it’s impossible to deny that our justice system needs a great deal of work. One thing that will help to better our justice system is removing those who show such bias from positions of power. If you would like to take a step in making that happen, you can sign the petition to remove Aaron Persky from the bench: https://www.change.org/p/california-state-house-re....
