At this point, I’m sure you have already heard about the outrageous trial that has been going on with Brock Turner. Gladly, I don't have to waste my breath explaining what this criminal did, but I will give you a quick recap. This man raped a woman. This man raped a drunk, unconscious woman. That’s all we have to know. Apparently, all the articles think we have to know that he was a swimmer at Stanford, but that doesn’t change one thing about the fact that he raped someone. He is a criminal. C-R-I-M-I-N-A-L.
As much as this horrific case completely dug a big hole out of humanity that was in my heart, hopefully we, America, could only go up from here and learn through the mistakes that are happening right now. Here are five lessons we can take from this mournful event.
1. The victim's voice is louder.
The victim’s shared letter to her attacker, I read the 64 paragraphed letter that Buzzfeed shared, and it just broke my heart. As I read word for word, my mind took me to exactly her scenario. I pictured in my head what had happened to her and words could not explain what this poor woman has went through. The letter is absolutely gut wrenching and so incredibly powerful and sad. Thank God for this beautiful woman. Thank God that she has the courage to not only write, but publicly share her statement to her attacker. Her empowerment and her courage is so inspiring and she is the true hero. Did you know that about every two minutes an American is sexually assaulted? As we look around us, there are so many victims from sexual assault. There are a lot of people suffering and hopefully after reading her letter, there are a ton of people who can relate and feel a little less isolated now. Hopefully there are a ton of people who are realizing that just because it’s not happening to them, it’s still a very serious issue happening as we speak. And hopefully, this powerful letter will open all of human eyes and motivate us to do something about this.
2. Petitions.
Turner is serving six months in jail. I am absolutely in awe that it is 2016 and rape culture is still a thing. It’s worse enough that people still don’t understand what consent is, but on top of that for a man who has three charges of felony sexual assault and only to be sentenced for six months in jail. How is this fair? We have to do something about this. It starts with us. It starts with loving humans and helping each other out. There are petitions on the Internet that take just a few minutes to sign and share. We can’t just sit around anymore. We have to fight for what we believe in!
3. Consent.
Con·sent. Consent/noun: Permission for something to happen or agreement to do something. Do you understand this definition? It’s pretty simple. If you ask someone to go out to eat with you and they say no, then you don’t go out to eat with them. If you ask someone to have sex with you and they say no, you don’t have sex with them. It’s pretty simple, I’m glad you are with me.
4. Stop the rape jokes.
Can you imagine being raped? I know it’s a very touchy topic and the word rape carries so much incredibly raw, scary, horrific topics with it, but if you are going to use that word and put it into a joke, can you imagine actually being raped? Can you imagine the amount of pain, suffering, and confusion you will feel your whole entire life? Stop making rape jokes. Stop laughing when someone says a rape joke in front of you. Please and thank you.
5. The only rape victim is the human who got raped.
I read an article about how since the woman drank, she was asking for it. Are you kidding me? Nobody drinks to get raped. Nobody dresses the way they do to get raped. I could not believe my eyes when I saw articles about how “the victim should of behaved responsibly” from support groups for Turner, claiming Turner to be the real victim.
If you were sexually assaulted, it is not your fault. It doesn’t matter if you were drunk or sober. Male or female. Barely dressed or fully clothed. If you do not give consent, you are not asking for it. It is not your fault. You are not alone, and together we will keep spreading love and support.
Thank you.
