Do you recognize the man in the above picture?
Chances are, you probably didn't see that picture in the news this week. Let me try a different photo.
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How about now? Do you remember this guy? These are two different pictures of the same person, yet the media is content with showing only his yearbook picture.
This young man is Brock Turner.
Brock Turner went to Stanford.
Brock Turner made the conscious decision to rape a young, unconscious woman behind a dumpster.
Brock Turner received only six months for his heinous actions that had the possibility of carrying fourteen years. He has the chance to be a free man after three months, depending on good behavior.
I repeat his name because I want it etched in your memory. I want his face to remain in your mind. I want you to remember this young man and his actions because, every time you recall him, you will be reminded that rape is a massive problem in our society, particularly within the college community.
It is my hope that this situation, as horrifying as it is, will break our silence about sexual assault, for this is a conversation that we as a nation desperately need to have.
Yeah, I get it. Sexual assault is difficult to talk about. Because of its heinous nature, it makes us uncomfortable. But here is the kicker- if we don't talk about those things that make us uncomfortable, how will we ever get to the root of the problem?
Rather than attempt to solve the major issue of sexual assault, a large portion of our society has either remained silent about it or made the conscious decision to overlook this crime and downplay its effects on victims.
This can be seen by Turner's father claiming that his son paid too large of a price for "twenty minutes of action." It can be seen by the judge's handing down a light sentence out of fear that more time would have a "severe impact" on his life.
But what about the victim? What about the pain she will feel for years to come? Won't that have a "severe impact" on her life?
America is a full of contradictions. I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but for the first time in this nation's history, we have a woman running for President. Yet, women are still considered to some, as Brock Turner's father so eloquently put it, as nothing more than "twenty minutes of action."
We say that, as a society, we want women to succeed; women can do whatever they put their minds to. They can become doctors, lawyers, astronauts, anything. Girl power, right?
Yet, ironically, one in five women are sexually assaulted while in college, and rapists like Turner can get off with a mere six month sentence.
Many people have been quick to put the blame on alcohol, as if alcohol was the culprit who raped this young woman. However, I know many young men who drink and have never had nor expressed the urge to defile a woman's body.
Furthermore, we don't adamantly defend drivers who maim others while under the influence. So why is the rapist's intoxication being used as an excuse, defense, or mitigating circumstance in this case?
You see, alcohol is not to blame here. Brock Turner is. And if we are really looking at where his behavior comes from, we need look no further than his father's letter to the judge. Turner's father spoke volumes on his son's "weakened voice" and "lack of appetite" that came as a result of "twenty minutes of action." Yet, not once in this letter does this father hold his son accountable for the crime he committed.
The idea that women are nothing more than "twenty minutes of action" was propagated by Turner's actions, stated outright by his father and bolstered by the sentence given by the not-so-Honorable Aaron Persky.
I hope to have children of my own one day, and I don't want my daughter growing up in a world where she is considered no more than "twenty minutes of action."
I want my daughter to live in a society where her womanhood is a blessing, rather than a curse.
The day that we begin to recognize rape and sexual assault as a serious crime, regardless of one's societal status, is the day that we will make progress towards ending these atrocities.
After all, the first step to solving a problem is breaking the silence and admitting that the problem exists.
