You opened this out of curiosity, huh? Did you think I would be defending the man boy who brutally raped that young girl?

That is not what this is about. I have no defense for the boy who committed the unspeakable. Who ruined so many lives, not limited to his own; who destroyed the beautiful confidence of woman. Now, because of you she can’t walk down the sidewalk and feel safe. The friendly look of a good man makes her cringe. She’s been stripped of something that cannot be taken back.

But here I am, thanking you.

I’d like to thank you for the agreement of hatred you have brought to this country. Not the hatred itself, but the agreement. In a time when this country is split a few ways, and no one can agree on anything. There is a chasm spreading between the nation that you have built a bridge over. The entire nation and the entire world can agree on one thing, the fact that you belong in prison for more than six months (or three with good behavior). You’ve created such a large and undeniable hatred for you, your father, and your sentence that the entire United States of America has come together for a common cause. There’s petitions and opinions on Facebook. Your name has been trending for days. The world is making sure that when people see you, they no longer know your given name, but they know that you are the Stanford Rapist. They know to take the other side of the street when they see you coming. This not only shows the power of social media, but this shows you the power of a nation coming together.

The fact that this girl had to go through this adversity to bring a nation together is a sad illustration of America today. Maybe this is what America needed to see to step ahead and address the issues ahead as a nation instead of as two separate political parties. Views on health care and taxes may differ, but what we see as morally right and wrong should not.

So a thank you to the Stanford Rapist. Because of you, we as a country hate something more then we hate each other. All I can hope is that the hatred you feel continues past your six month sentence, and that the unison the nation feels continues through this election and into the future.

The urgency of involving yourself in the huge and overshadowing issue of rape in this country is important. Can this be seen as a wake up call? Can we now stress the importance of reporting rape? Around 60 percent of rape cases are never reported, and one in five women have been sexually abused. That's a huge number. Teach your kids that alcohol is not an excuse for rape, and neither is the way a woman is dressed. Help stop rape before it happens. Encourage friends to report incidents to the police, and encourage the police and the court system to take sexual assault cases seriously. We as a nation are the only ones who can stop rape. Sign petitions, use social media, and push others to do the same.