The Brock Turner case has blown up in the news in the past several months, and for a good reason. Brock Turner is a rapist. I don't care if he was a swimmer or a Stanford student or a "humble person" as his father says in his letter defending his son's actions, he is still a rapist. He received a lenient sentence of six months in county jail, which he was just released from three months early, on "good behavior." He may have been on his best behavior in jail, but he should have had "good behavior" on the night that he took an unconscious girl behind a dumpster and raped her. The charges that Brock faced could have gotten him up to 14 years in federal prison, but he was not sentenced longer than six months in county jail because of the "severe impact" anything more may have had on him.
But, what about the severe impact this whole situation has had on his victim?
The poor girl that was victimized and found behind a dumpster not only had to go through the sexual assault itself, she had to relive it day after day during the trial, the interviews, the articles and the headlines, and it has not stopped. Sexual assaults are often not reported, and this case has only taught us young women that we probably shouldn't report sexual assaults because nothing significant will happen to our rapist and our lives will just become even more of a living hell.
The victim of Brock's terrible crime now, much like other victims, has to live in fear. There is fear of seeing him again. The fear of it happening again. The fear of not being safe anywhere. The fear of never getting past it. Victims of sexual assault have to relive their assault in their mind countless times, as well as battle with mental health problems caused by an assault, and this is without the media and other aftermath of reporting. So reporting it only makes everything more complicated, right? The answer should be no, but in our society it isn't.
Being a victim of sexual assault is enough punishment, and when we as young women feel as if reporting our assault will only cause more problems, that means that our perpetrators get away. And in this case, although it was reported, Brock Turner still got away with minimal punishment. In addition to the fact that this case has taught victims that they will not be helped as they deserve - it has taught young men that if they literally rape an unconscious girl and leave her behind a dumpster- the punishment won't be too bad. This case has showed the world that for a crime that should send one to prison for years, you get a slap on the wrist and sent back in to the world to most likely repeat the action. The unreported sexual assaults let the perpetrators go along with life as if nothing happened at all, and if they got away with it once, they can again, right? The answer should be no, but in our society it isn't.
Young women and victims of such terrible crimes need to know that they are going to be taken care of, protected and supported in their time of despair. They do NOT need to be asked what they were wearing, or how much they were drinking. I don't care if a person is wearing a bra and underwear and is blackout drunk, they still do not deserve to be raped. This case, along with several other sexual assault cases have emphasized the use of alcohol and blamed it for a human's disgusting decisions that were made to sexually assault another person. Stanford University even banned hard liquor from parties, as well as set up a webpage about alcohol and stating that women get drunk faster and excess drinking may lead to "regretted behavior." This is taking the blame off of rapists and telling them them that it's okay, because they weren't in their right mind, and girls obviously can't handle their liquor.
We need to fix the mindset behind sexual assault as a whole. This is not the first time this has happened, and sadly, it will not be the last. Brock Turner is a terrible human, but so are so many others who do not get punished for their crime at all. The victim of Brock's assault was brave enough to face what had happened to her, but so many others are not. We need to let the victims know that they are supported without questioning their legitimacy or clothing choices, and let the rapists know that what they are doing is completely unacceptable, regardless of alcohol or other outside motives. We need to take sexual assault seriously and not disappoint America with another case where the victim is harmed physically, emotionally and mentally, all while the perpetrator gets away.
