Brock Turner is a name we have all become familiar with these past couple weeks. It is a name that brings many different emotions -- rage, sadness, fear, disgust. It is the name of a convicted rapist. We live in a society where victims of sexual assault are afraid to come forward because of the repercussions of rape culture and victim blaming. When women are taught on how they can prevent themselves from being raped instead of men being told to not rape women. After the way this case played out, rape culture can no longer be viewed as a myth. It is real, and it is a problem we as a society have to combat.
An unconscious woman was raped behind a dumpster. This should be the main focus when discussing this case. But instead, irrelevant aspects of the attacker’s as well as the victim’s lives were delved into. What should be focused on the most is the fact that a human being was unconscious and sexually assaulted. Unconscious means she could not have given consent. It does not matter if both the victim and the perpetrator were intoxicated. It does not matter if the perpetrator was “a great swimmer.” Someone was raped.
The support that Brock Turner is getting from his friends and family is a perfect example of the disgusting rape culture we all unfortunately live in. Brock thus far has not owned up to his actions in any way, shape, or form, despite the fact that he is now a convicted sexual predator. He will have to register as a sex offender wherever he lives, for the rest of his life. This will follow him. He cannot escape that and he shouldn’t be able to. At 20 years old, it should be expected that people are aware they are to be held accountable for their actions. But then again, at 20 years old, or any age, it should be expected that people know rape is wrong.
Though the jury’s decision that Brock was guilty on three accounts (the intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person) is seen as a victory, his sentencing is hurtful. Not only is it hurtful to the victim and her loved ones, but to any survivor of sexual assault, and even to humankind in general. Brock was facing up to six years in prison, but was only sentenced to six months in county jail with three years probation. Even worse, he is most likely only going to serve half of his sentence -- a mere three months. What this says is that in our society, you can basically get off easily despite the fact that you digitally penetrated an unconscious woman, and that you took pictures of said woman’s bare chest and sent it to your peers. The judge’s focus was not on getting justice for the victim and her family, but rather on protecting Brock’s future. But the truth is, he determined the fate of his own future with his actions that night and no one should be holding a shield out in front of him.
The focus on Brock Turner’s former successes instead of the terrible acts he committed shows that rape culture is real. The denial of committing a crime and not owning up to his actions is why rape culture is real. The overall ignorance about the entire event is why rape culture is real. This needs to be brought to everyone’s attention. Brock Turner, though only serving six months in jail, no one should forget what he did or how it was handled.
