It's been a mere three months since Brock Turner's name was all over the national headlines for receiving a minimal sentence for "twenty minutes of action." Letters were written, petitions were made, and there was outrage from women and men alike, but there was no change to his charges. Three short months after what should have been a 14-year sentence, Brock Turner was released for "good behavior" just as promised. After serving half of his original sentence it seems the only real punishment he got was having to become a registered sex offender. Maybe his dad will write another letter about how that's affecting him and his eating habits, so that's something to look forward to.
But all this talk about Brock Turner hasn't done much to change the society we live in. Every day similar situations occur that we never hear about. Girls that are raped by strangers or even people they consider their friends. Victims who never step forward to report the incident because they're ashamed or scared of what could happen next. And after the outcome of this case, that fear is validated. What's the point of stepping forward if all it means is a slap on the wrist of the rapist and a grossly shortened sentence for good behavior?
Turner shows no remorse for what he did. He doesn't care about the victim or her family and how their lives have been altered because he just couldn't control himself. Splashing his name all over the media isn't doing anything to comfort the woman of the world. It's showing rapists and other attackers that you could probably get off easy if you even get caught that is. If you're a privileged white male nothing bad can happen to you, right?
This is because we're not acting on this rape culture that's been created. Making headlines and just talking about what should have been done differently isn't helping anyone. Commenting on the victims clothing or behavior for being the cause is definitely not helping anyone, that just perpetuates the idea that "she was asking for it." Instead of warning girls not to get raped, we need to start teaching attackers not to rape. Showing that rapists get the proper punishment, no matter how special they were before the attack. Not shaming the victims who step forward and following through with investigations.
We can talk about the problems at hand all we want, but until there's action being taken, nothing is going to change. And even though Turner served a minimal sentence, at least he served time. Because the reality of it is, most rapists never even have to face a trial. Without any penalty, there's nothing stopping them from doing it again. Maybe this case will spark a fire that could change all this, but personally, I don't want to talk about Brock Turner anymore.
