College rape culture, a phrase many are all too familiar with this day in age. Young girls are taught to carry pepper spray in their purses, to walk in groups, to avoid that part of their campus, and to always be aware of their surroundings. Rape whistles are handed out at college orientations like candy to these young women because boys aren't taught "no means no", but girls are taught "if you wear that skirt...boys might think you're asking for it" or "if you drink too much and get flirty...boys might get the wrong impression." We, as young women, are force-fed this idea from such a young age that although "no means no" it doesn't matter what we're wearing, what we're drinking, which party we're at, or who we're with, it can all be traced back to somehow asking for it, no matter the circumstances.
Today on August 31st, 2016, Brock Turner was released from county jail serving only half of his jail sentence, a total of 3 months served when the suggested time from the prosecution was 6 years. If you don't know the entire background to this case, you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner What was once a small case has now turned into a storm of furious young women, mothers, sisters, and aunts who feel ashamed to live in a world where someone who can repeatedly bash a young woman's head into a brick wall and forcibly rape her unconscious body, can yet only serve less than the lightest sentence for his crimes. Brock Turner didn't just rape this young woman, but he used her body like she was made for his taking, like she wasn't a person but rather a thing, an object of his sexualization to use and dump when finished.
Brock, as most defendants against rape charges do, use any and every detail of the woman that night to "justify" the actions of the rapist. Brock used the woman's slight intoxication to justify that his actions were purely "inevitable" and that "Campus Drinking Culture" is solely responsible for the horrible acts committed against this young woman. Let me tell you what me and any sane logical person with even a drop of human compassion can say about his statements: they were completely arrogant, had no real ties to his crimes, and like so many other white, privileged, college athletes do, it was shifting the blame to someone/something else. The blame is not the alcohol, it is not the clothes she was wearing, it is not the makeup on her face or the fact that at the party she might have said she wanted you. It doesn't matter because if someone says "no" it means NO. It doesn't matter because if she isn't conscious when you are sticking foreign objects inside of her, it means NO. It doesn't matter because if she wakes up to pine needles in her hair and not knowing what happened to HER body, you should never see the light of day.
Brock Turner didn't just rape someone. He took a piece of her soul, he used and abused her and he got off on an easy sentence because the harsher sentence would've "seriously damaged" his psychological health. The girl he raped will NEVER be the same because of the acts he committed against her while she lay against the dirty ground, not being able to fight back. We must shed light on these things, this phenomena cannot continue where white, privileged, college athletes almost get away with murder, simply for having money and being a necessity to the sports team. Women must stand together to teach our sons, our brothers, our fathers and our male friends that NO MEANS NO. We cannot let Brock Turner win, we must keep fighting and take a stand for what is right, we must take a stand for each other.
