Recently headlines have popped up everywhere regaling the general public with stories of Kesha and her failed court case. Kesha has not produced music for the last two years due to this impending court case and law suit regarding her producer Dr. Luke and label Sony.

Personally, I am a fan of Kesha and her music. In high school I jammed out to her multi platinum single "Tik Tok." I fell in love with her softer songs that were showcased on her last album "Warrior." I drive way too fast and sing way too loud when "All That Matters (Beautiful Life)" comes through on Spotify.

Kesha writes amazingly catchy and even relatable songs. Kesha is authentic with her music and really couldn't care less what others think of it. That is why I personally adore this young woman. Kesha's quest in life was to show people that they can embrace their inner freak and put it on the front porch for everyone to see. Kesha was an artist that I could seriously relate to and needed during my awkward high school days.

However, I am not here to talk about how much I enjoy her music or how hard I go when her songs come on my Spotify playlists. I am here to talk about why she should be free to record it. I am here to talk about an injustice that occurred that has hurt Kesha as an artist and as a woman.

Allegedly, Dr. Luke had forced Kesha to consume illegal drugs and then "sober pills" which were actually a type of date rape drug. Kesha had woken up the next morning in Dr. Luke's hotel room naked, sore, and sick. Kesha could not find her clothes and had herself brought to the emergency room to be checked out. After the initial shock of her assault she then filed a lawsuit against Sony and Dr. Luke.

Because Kesha filed a lawsuit against her producer and subsequently her label she has in some ways dug her own grave in an attempt to gain justice for what happened to her. Sony has refused to let Kesha out of contract and was backed by the judge who said that there was not

enough evidence favoring her allegations. The lawsuit originated with the intentions of Kesha gaining release from her label so she could pursue other record labels and create music away from her abuser/rapist. Kesha isn't trying to put Luke in jail. I repeat she is not trying to put him in jail. She is trying to simply get away from him so she can heal and continue to record music. This very simple request was denied. Kesha has basically been told that she is stuck with the people that support the person who raped her.
What went wrong here? Why did a system that is supposed to bring justice to wrongdoers fail? I am not going to turn this into a bra-burning feminist article about fighting systematic oppression and the patriarchal society and culture this nation is built upon. That is for another day and another article.So many women are raped almost daily and only 80 percent report their rapes. Why? Because they are afraid of going through what Kesha is going through. Women often don't report rape because they fear retaliation, they fear that they will be slut-shamed by their community, they are afraid that the police won't care or their rapist is a part of the police force. There are so many reasons why rapes like Kesha's go unreported. Kesha did the right thing by reporting it but to the public and probably even to her it no longer feels like the right thing. Publicly humiliated and trapped by Sony and Dr. Luke, Kesha is stuck continuing to record her music under these people or not at all.

I was assaulted my sophomore year in college. I went and reported it to the police with the help of my very best friend. When the policeman came to take my statement he tried to bully and shame me into saying I was raped when I was not. I was only assaulted (still bad but also not rape). I don't think that they ever did anything about my assailant.

Now I walk around campus looking over my shoulder worried that he might retaliate if he ever found out. Whether it be rape or assault so many women deal with this. Kesha is now dealing with this and though we may not all feel comfortable coming out about being assaulted or raped we should all stand with Kesha as she fights for her rights and for justice because she's not just fighting for herself but she's also fighting for us.

Here are a few questions that have gone through my head after reading countless articles on this. Kesha went to the emergency room. When you go to the emergency room saying you are raped then you have a rape kit done, unless you refuse. Kesha, since she wanted peace of mind and feedom from her label, doesn't strike me as the type to refuse the rape kit. If she didn't refuse the rape kit then how was there not enough evidence to incriminate Dr. Luke? If a rape kit was done that means they more than likely also did blood work to test for the date rape drugs that were allegedly given to her. If those were present in her system then how is that not a tell-tale sign that she was physically assaulted or raped? Those could be traced back to Luke fairly easily. The excuse that there wasn't enough incriminating evidence doesn't really hold water.

Just like a bad movie the logic behind the judges decision has a lot of plot holes. I believe that this case should be brought back to the surface and re-tried if it isn't too emotionally damaging to Kesha. I believe that if Kesha can win this and get the justice that she deserves that it will blaze a trail for every single victim out there.

Victims that are being assaulted and abused will feel more empowered to stand up for themselves and report their assailants. I believe that in some small way that Kesha can be the person to flip the script on rape culture and victim shaming in her own way small or large.