Brock Turner, a 21-year-old convicted rapist, was just released from jail. He served three months of a six-month sentence. Yes, you read that correctly, he served THREE MONTHS for rape. Something sound wrong with that? I thought so.
For those of you who didn’t hear about this story, Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster of January 17, 2015. She had been drinking at a fraternity party and blacked out. Turner found her and took his chance. It is unlikely the assault would have stopped had two young men not ridden by on their bikes. Turner ran, they chased and held him until police arrived.
The case went to trial at the beginning of 2016 and in March Turner was given his sentence. He was convicted of three, THREE, felonies. Based on his conviction he should have been sentenced to a minimum of two years in jail. Prosecutors were asking for six years in state prison. However, his sentence, handed down by Judge Aaron Persky, was a six-month stay in county jail and probation. Judge Persky said his decision was based upon Turner’s unlikelihood to commit another such crime, his intoxication, and his youth. (As you may have guessed Judge Persky got huge backlash for this and protesters called for his removal from the bench.)
Turner was just released from county jail September 2nd. He served just three months of his sentence. He now has to complete three years of probation and will be on the registered sex offenders list for life. Somehow that seems like a small price to pay for destroying a young woman’s life. A young woman who was taken advantage of while unconscious and couldn’t even fight back.
The amount of time that Brock Turner served isn’t the only problem with this case though. The real issue is the clear lack of respect for women and their bodies that this case proved. Yes. What happened to this woman is unforgivable. I cannot ever deny that. But this case holds greater implications for all woman in the United States. Much of these problems arise from the coverage of this case.
How those in this case were represented by the media show that the sexes are not equal, and men’s accomplishments still outweigh their wrongdoings. When this case first made headlines, Brock Turner was consistently referred to as a “Stanford swimmer.” Not once was it “Brock Turner, accused rapist.” Something is severely wrong with that picture. What makes this situation worse is that the young woman who was subject to Turner’s “20-minute mistake,” was subconsciously blamed for the incident. She was referred to as “blackout drunk.” I’m sorry, but no matter what my mental state is, sober or intoxicated, you still don’t get to sexually assault me. Neither my mental state or indiscretions get determine whether you get to take advantage of me or not. You don’t. Ever. Period.
This victim-shaming highlights the larger problem. Rape culture in America is a problem. It doesn’t matter what a victim was wearing, how much alcohol they had, or any other excuse. Unless consent is explicitly given, then there is no consent. Just because someone has a revealing outfit on doesn’t mean they are asking for it. My outfit shouldn’t dictate your actions. There should be enough respect for your fellow beings that you respect my body. My body is mine. The young woman at the center of this case described these issues best, read her letter to Judge Persky and the court here.
Ultimately, it is these kind of cases that get this level of coverage that affect woman of all ages. We are told constantly that what happens to us is our fault. We shouldn’t have had that last drink. We shouldn’t have worn that outfit. We shouldn’t have let the guy on. This is what young girls are having drilled into their head by the media. It’s not their attackers fault, instead they brought it upon themselves. That’s bullshit. Change is not just something to be considered, it is necessary.
