Recently a Stanford freshman raped a 22-year-old woman behind a dumpster. That in itself is disgusting to me, but what I find more disgusting is the support behind the freshman boy.
Brock Turner, a then freshman at Stanford University, attended a house party. A woman, then 22, also attended the same party with her younger sister. She allowed herself to become too intoxicated and blacked out many times during the night. She was blacked out and in and out of consciousness when Brock Turner led her behind a dumpster and penetrated her with many objects and his fingers. She was drunk, but that does not excuse what he did.
He raped her and almost got away with it. If it weren’t for two Swedish students on a bike ride who witnessed the rape in action and chased Brock while he ran, she would have been left there until someone stumbled over her partially naked, unconscious body. She had many cuts and abrasions all over her body from bushes and from Brock. She woke up in a hospital unaware of what happened to her. She did not know that she was raped until the detectives and hospital employees told her. She was so unconscious when it happened that she really can’t recall what happened to her. Honestly, I think that may be a good thing. She doesn’t have to relive the moments when her rapist was on top of her and sexually abusing her. She does have to live with the memories before and after and live with the regret of what happened to her.
The worst part of this situation is that he hired a lawyer to fight the charges. He blames the alcohol. He only admits to drinking too much. He says that he only drank too much alcohol and that the alcohol was responsible. Only you are responsible for your own actions, whether or not you are drunk. You allowed yourself to drink to that point. You can say the same about the victim, but she did NOT ask to be raped. Yes, she drank too much. She admits that she drank too much and she allowed herself to be too intoxicated to the point where she was blacked out, but that was not an open invitation for her to be raped. At no point should any possible consent that she could have possibly given be even taken seriously. When someone is that incoherent, they should not be taken advantage of. But that’s what Brock Turner did. His lawyer painted her as the perpetrator and tried to attack her personal character. They made Brock look like an innocent college freshman who was consumed too much alcohol and made a mistake. Maybe he did consume too much alcohol, but that does not make what he did any less severe.
The newspapers raved about how he was a great swimmer, at Stanford with a swim scholarship, which he lost due to the rape conviction. In many articles, they talk all about his accomplishments, but they never once shed a positive image on the victim. She remains the unconscious, drunk woman who he raped. They make him the victim since he had to go to trial to fight to stay out of prison. He now is a registered sex offender and will be on the registry for the rest of his life. He absolutely deserves it; there’s no doubt about it. He raped someone. He deserves to be punished for his actions. His accomplishments and his swim career should not lessen the sentencing, but they did. If the rapist was a minority and not a student athlete, this story would be completely different. Brock Turner is getting special treatment due to the color of his skin and his social class. I’ve seen many articles defending him and his actions, but if it was someone else, I doubt they’d get the same treatment. They’d be treated as animals. That disgusts me. This is proof that the justice system is biased for white privileged males. Brock Turner raped someone. He should face the consequences that come with raping someone.
To the victim, I’m sorry. I’m sorry the court system sees you as an irresponsible woman who drank too much and allowed someone to take advantage of you. I’m sorry they didn’t see the pain he caused you and didn’t take that into account. I’m sorry they can only see how damaging the title of rapist looks on his record and how “unfair” it is that he won’t have a normal life anymore. I’m thinking of you. Because of him, you also won’t have a normal life anymore either. I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through. I really wish rape cases didn’t beat down the victims and blame them for the rapists’ actions. I’m sorry, but after reading your statement, I know you are strong and you are brave. I’m amazed by your dignity and I’m on your side, not just because I’m a woman, but because I believe in what’s right.
