On March 30, 2016, Brock Turner was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on the streets of Stanford, California. On September 2, 2016, he was released from prison after serving only three months of his six-month sentence. In turn, he must register as a sex offender and will be on probation for the next three years. Through all of the publicity that this case has received, I find myself asking questions. Where is his victim amongst all of this and what kind of example does this set for sexual predators? These kinds of questions seemed to slip through the cracks of the media circus that was this case.
Upon reading over Turner’s father’s open letter, it was very evident that the victim was not thought of once and was even blamed for putting herself in the position she was faced with. Turner’s father’s motives were clear; he wanted the public to feel bad for his son and to mask the real problems at hand. His mention of his son’s “20 minutes of action” was not only disrespectful to rhe victim, but disrespectful to all sexual assault victims. Yes, his son will have to face repercussions which he rightly should, but his victim’s repercussions will be far worse than any that his son will have.
Not only is Turner’s early release disrespectful and fail to punish him justly, this also sets a precedent for other sexual predators. What does this say? That when you are a clean-cut, upper-middle class undergrad on scholarship you can get away with such a heinous act simply because of your status in society? Because of this insinuation created by the California judicial system, it is my fear that not only will Brock Turner serve as a type of model for other men, but that he will assault another woman again. Anywhere between twelve to twenty-four percent of sexual offenders will reoffend (csom.org). Maybe Brock Turner learned his lesson, or maybe he didn’t. Unfortunately, only time will tell, though there are countless other cases of first or repeat offences that will go unreported.
As a female college student, I fear not only for myself but for my friends and my fellow female peers; that one of us will become a victim of sexual assault. One in four women will be sexually assaulted during their time in college (nytimes.com). Why are we teaching our girls that they should dress or not dress a certain way or to watch our drinking because if we are drunk, we are at fault, instead of teaching our boys not to sexually assault?
Where is the justice there?
