After reading this article about the23-year-old woman who was assaulted by a freshman at Stanford University, I was at a loss for words.
Six months. Brock Turner was sentenced to six months with probation. To the judge who decided six months was a good enough time for this rapist to learn his lesson, and to the attorney who represented Brock Turner and continuously belittled the victim, what if this was your sister? Or your mother? Your wife or girlfriend? How about your daughter? Would that have changed the way you approached this case? Six months. According to Mercury News, Brock Turner was convicted of "assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object." He was sentenced six months with probation for that. According to the Department of Justice, the average sentence for sexual assault is 72 months. Now, if you're unfamiliar with how many years that is, 72 divided by 12 is six. Six years is the average sentence for sexual assault. The average time served is 35 months, and still, that is more than six months.
This woman will have to live with this for the rest of her life. She will remember every single day for the rest of forever that she was touched by someone she didn't want to touch her, and she can't even remember it. She will never know the whole story because Brock Turner chose to stand up and lie to everyone. He knew it was wrong. He knew she was unconscious. He knew that you shouldn't have sex with someone if they are incoherent. Because of his poor judgement and inadequacy to make the right decision, he raped a woman. This is not the way boys are. This is not OK because she was drunk. She was not asking for it. If she cannot remember it, that is all the more reason for him to not be allowed on the streets. He is dangerous. He should not be allowed back into the world with other peoples' daughters, sisters, mothers, wives and girlfriends.
And, you let him. The judge and the attorney enabled him by giving him a slap on the wrist and teaching him the rules don't apply to rich, entitled kids who are good at swimming.
Now, another important point to reference is in this article here. Six months is a steep sentence for "20 minutes of action?" That was not action, unless you enjoy having sex with a limp, incoherent person. That is severely inappropriate. "He will never be his happy-go-lucky self." Neither will the woman he raped, but clearly it does not make a difference to you. I can't even read the whole thing, it is sickening.
Again, another great question asked by the woman who was attacked: What if no one had intervened? What if those bikers weren't out? What if he had finished up, pulled up his pants and called it a night? What would have happened to her then? You know he was not going to bring her to the hospital, "here's the girl I just sexually assaulted, she's kind of drunk, so, like, take care of her, bye!" No. He was not going to do that. He was going to leave her behind a dumpster. He was going to go home like nothing happened.
I want to finish this article by reminding everyone that no means no. No means no, no matter what. My cat understands no when it tries to rip up the carpet, and you say no, it stops. My nana's dog understands no when it tries to jump on you, and you say no, it stops. It's not just animals that understand no, surprisingly! Humans understand no, also. When I tell the children I babysit no, it's a miracle, they stop.No means no, and no answer also means no. If someone is drunk, even if they say yes, take it as a no. The only time someone can consent to sex is when they are sober, are saying yes and are willing.
