This Friday evening, I sat enjoying the night by doing what most of us do: scrolling through the digitized world of Facebook. Lately, we all know this social media platform has become a battleground concerning politics, bathrooms and gorillas, and now, as of last night, a rapist.
In January of last year, former Stanford swimmer Brock Allen Turner was discovered raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, and as of yesterday, received his sentence. Found guiltily of three counts of sexual assault, Turner was looking at close to 14 years in prison. However, Mr.Turner will be spending only six months of jail time in the county jail and three years probation. This sentence was given by Judge Aaron Persky saying the light punishment is warranted by the simple facts that Turner is so young and had no existing criminal history.
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Persky is quoted saying that "prison would have had a severe impact on [Turner]," and that Turner "would not be a danger to others." Right, because the impact he has left on this woman isn't something severe enough.
This brave woman, now 23, spoke to the defendant, who still chooses to deny the assault, directly with a personal letter. The letter, hyperlinked here, is so powerful in its surreal and ordinary seeming circumstances. The most powerful quote "You don't know me, but you've been inside me," speaks volumes to the emotional and physical violent destruction these kinds of crimes warrant.
The victim is appalled by the easy sentence, yet hopes this case will wake people up. And from this article, I hope I can achieve that as well. When I read this tears filled my eyes as yet again rape culture has one. Rape culture is defined as a setting in which rape is normalized into society, and it's sentences like this and others that perpetuate this culture. It's the constant acknowledgement in every article I've read that talks about how the victim was three times over the legal limit that fuels rape culture's power. *News flash, doesn't matter how much someone has drank, it's still rape.*
Much like Baylor University and Mississippi State, Stanford has chosen to repress the importance of assault and sexual assaults (especially when it involves some athletic stars) on campuses for too long. The documentary "The Hunting Ground," now on Netflix, opens eyes and fuels passionate fires for the rebellion against the appropriation of this kind of behavior.
I am afraid this story won't be talked about like the bathrooms and the gorilla, but this is important, people. Don't ignore the obvious problem in this country. Don't keep scrolling. Let this outrage break the internet! I want to scroll through my newsfeed and see nothing but people in outrage about this story. And then I want to see this story become something greater. This is a critical story that could change the course of history if we let it. For the sake of this victim and all victims out there, I earnestly pray that it does.
