A few months ago, your all-too-familiar story swept the nation. At first, when I started to hear about it, my heart went out to you and your family. Having gone through a similar experience just a year earlier, I know the process of healing after something so terrible has happened.

And then when the press released the letter you not only wrote, but read aloud to your attacker’s face in court a year later, I was amazed by you. I was in awe of your bravery and eloquence in a moment where most would be (understandably) nervous to speak. I can imagine the emotions you had felt over the year before his trial...I know that it couldn’t have been easy. But you did it. You took a stand for yourself, as well as the thousands of other women who have walked the same path you do...you bared your soul and held absolutely nothing back...and I was simply amazed by your strength.

However, our justice system is disgustingly corrupt. My blood boiled with the rest of the country when the scumbag was sentenced to a pathetic six months in a county jail, because the judge thought anything more would have too “severe” of an impact on him. We were all angry, confused, but unfortunately not surprised by the judge’s decision. After all, the most important thing is making sure poor swimmer boy’s future stays somewhat intact, right? We can’t send a skinny, rich, white boy to prison like we would with anybody else because oh, the poor thing just won’t be able to handle it!

It makes me sick, not only because I know this isn’t the first time this has ever happened, but because I know that it will happen again, and again, and again. Why? Because for some reason, our justice system seemingly has no desire to help the victims of one of the most horrific crimes a person could commit...instead, they struggle more with portraying a rapist as a criminal than they would a drug dealer or a murderer, especially if said rapist comes from wealth (oops, I’m sorry, I meant “has a bright future”). Any other criminal would have had his mug shot posted immediately, the photo that really made him/her look like the “bad guy”...but for some reason, this isn’t the case when it comes to college boys who rape girls.

Nope, no way. Instead, their school photo is posted all over the media, giving the impression that they are good, eligible young men who have lost a lot “because of what happened”, too.

A swimming scholarship is nothing compared to the mental, emotional, and physical health of a fellow human being.

Some people are actually arguing that having to register as a sex offender is too “extensive” for someone as young as Turner because it’ll follow him around for the rest of his life. Apparently, getting out of jail three months early just isn’t enough. He should get to walk away, just like several rapists before him, and the public should just be able to forget about what he did. And he should be allowed to carry on his life as normal.

Yeah, because that makes so much sense.

Emily, I hope you never allow your voice to be silenced. You have done so much already, you have brought so much light to how messed up the system is when it comes to rape. You have sparked a fire in the hearts of so many others who have gone through the same thing you are going through, or who know someone who has. You have spoken for the victims who cannot, whether it's because they've been abandoned by the system or because they were too afraid to come out with their own experiences. You can pave the way for a future where we hold the rapist accountable...not the survivor.

I hope you have found some peace and healing. I hope you have someone telling you each and every day that it was not your fault, I hope they tell you that you are beautiful, I hope they tell you that you are brave and so strong, I hope they tell you that you are a survivor. And most of all, I hope you’re beginning to believe all of those things, because I can assure you that every single one of them is true.

More than anything, I hope you know that you have millions who are standing behind you. Not only do you have the support of your family and your friends, you have the support of thousands and thousands of strangers, people who only know you as "Emily Doe", but are willing to stand with you.