It is no secret that sexual violence is a severe issue. The statistics that one in every six women and one in every 33 men get raped in their lifetime still stand. Countless incidents of sexual violence go unreported. For those who have not experienced or known someone who has experienced this, it can be difficult to have a profound understanding of what a victim must face. Until a 23-year-old victim released the 12 page statementshe read to her attacker to BuzzfeedNews. The letter has over 15 million views and brought widespread outrage over the case.

For those who are not familiar with the case, click here.

Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, was convicted of three felonies for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. Regardless of Turner’s convictions of the intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an unconscious person and penetration of an intoxicated person, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky gave Turner a six-month jail sentence.

Turner could have faced 14 years in a state prison, but Judge Persky, a Stanford Alumnus, stated that state prison would have a “severe” impact on Turner. Turner’s father complained that it is a “steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life.”

In Turner’s statement, he focuses solely on alcohol consumption and that he doesn’t want anyone “male or female, to have to experience the destructive consequences of making decisions while under the influence of alcohol.”

I honestly can not even pinpoint what disgusts me the most about this case. However, I can identify the best thing, the victim’s letter. Her letter has both impacted and educated millions of people on the reality of sexual assault. By releasing gruesome details of her experience, she has exhibited the strength it takes to be vulnerable. Her words have placed a story behind the statistics.

The fact that a privileged 20-year-old was able to get away with six months for raping an unconscious woman highlights the obvious flaws in our judicial system and proves that work needs to be done. Being a swimmer at a prestigious school should not attribute to a lesser sentence. Sexual assault is illegal regardless of gender, race and social class and it should be treated as such.

Conversations about sexual consent need to be made and understood. Think about the women in your life. This could have been your mother, wife, daughter, sister, girlfriend, friend or even you.

“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 every day for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you. As the author Anne Lamott once wrote, 'Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.' Although I can’t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can’t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you. To girls everywhere, I am with you. Thank you.” -- Letter Read to Brock Turner

For more information about sexual assault, click here.

To read her letter, click here.

For current petitions, click here and here.