Dear Brock Turner:
You will probably never read this letter. Your family will make sure it never passes before the eyes of their precious son who “just made a mistake”.
Recommended for you
Well, I don't care. I'm not writing this letter for you. I'm writing it for the millions of women across the country who feel personally victimized by the fact that you got away with committing an act of violence against a woman with a pitiful and insulting three months in prison.
Do you realize how this makes us feel?
If you only got three months for ruining the life of one poor girl, how many other men will think they can get away with it, too? Too many.
Because of you, all of the women across the country see that men like you can get away with sexual assault and THAT SCARES THE HELL OUT OF US. Do you know what it's like to hear that a man convicted of rape only got three months in prison?
No... of course you don't, because you've never walked in our shoes, Mr. Turner.
You've never heard the speeches and assemblies where speakers say that 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted in college, “So beware, ladies.” You've never felt irrationally afraid of being in a room full of drunk guys because one of them might try something and you wouldn't be able to fight him off. You've never gone to the gym or taken a self-defense class and worked harder than you thought possible just in case you need to fight off someone trying to attack you. You've never cried tears of empathy and rage when reading a victim’s testimony.
No. Instead you rejoice at hearing you’re being let out after a mere three months. You went to that party, happily got drunk and attacked a woman. At your trial, you had a practiced look of remorse on your face when your victim's testimony was presented.
You don't get it.
That's why America hates you, Mr. Turner. Because of you, women are feeling once again like second-class citizens, since attacking us might not get you the punishment you deserve.
That's why America hates you. We go after you on the internet because the justice system didn't deal justice the way it should have due to a bias toward white men that has been a part of this country since its birth. So we attack you, we can't forgive you, WE ARE ENRAGED by you. You took away the voice of one woman, so the rest of us are speaking up with raised voices to make sure you and the rest of the world know that you can’t get away from a "mistake" that is more commonly called sexual assault.
That's why America hates you. You will never again be able to live a normal life. Although the anger will fade and life will carry on, if I cross paths with you in twenty years, rest assured I will remember EXACTLY who Brock Turner is and what he did. And quoting the Bible and saying “#blessed” on your new Twitter account won't redeem you in the eyes of women.
Your life will never be the same. Because that's what happens when you rape a woman. You are now a registered sex offender. And your swim times can't save you from that.
You're not a swimmer anymore, Mr. Turner. You're a rapist.
The country is confident in the knowledge that you're a terrible person because you raped a woman and used your status as a rich, white male to get away with it. If you truly seek forgiveness, you can't get it through tweeting "God bless". Get out there and do good. There has been recent talk about you going to colleges and talking about party culture. You can start there. Don't profit off this. Either do it for free or donate every cent you receive to women's shelters that help out women and children who are victims of domestic abuse and violence. There is no forgiveness for what you've done. But you can make the rest of your life into one that you don't have to be ashamed of.
I hope you care. I really do. I hope you will go out and try to do some real good in the world. I hope you regret what that poor woman suffered at your hands. I hope you recognize and appreciate the scope of the negative effect you have had on her life. And I hope you never forget that.
Because she never will.
