TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains content about sexual assault.
Unless you have been offline for the past few weeks, you have probably read about the case of a male sexually assaulting an unconscious female. Of course, a lot of the papers described it as a Stanford athletic with record swim times being accused of rape. Not that his athleticism probably made the victim feel any better after the trauma she experienced.
The male, Brock Turner, was found sexually assaulting an unconscious woman's body behind a dumpster when he was attacked by two men, trying to protect the victim. A year later, the court declared his guilt, but Brock Turner was only sentenced to six months due to prison possibly having a "severe impact" on Brock. Brock, his lawyer, and his father seem to be confused about who the victim is in the situation.
It shocks me how much this case sickens me because it is quite an exceptional case. A female was sexually assaulted, with the male intending rape, she tried the case, and she won. That, in and of itself, is exceptional. But Brock and his father's 'defenses' and claims of Brock being the victim are enough to make me want to punch someone... preferably one of them. Brock and his father are the personalization of the horror of rape culture in our society.
Here is a link to the father's comments. He basically says that his poor son has been horribly affected by the events that occurred last year. He uses the words 'events' clearly avoiding that his son was the criminal. He was the assaulter. The father says that only six months of prison "seems a steep price to pay for twenty minutes of action." I literally almost have to laugh at this because it seems so ridiculous! Twenty minutes of action that traumatized this young woman, caused her to feel unsafe and unvalued. Twenty minutes where your son took advantage of an unconscious human being then spent a year trying to convince a jury that it was her fault and that she probably wanted to have sex.
Both of these men try to argue that alcohol was the main criminal here. That Brock had too much to drink and they promise to start a program going to schools warning of the horrors of binge drinking. If they go to my hometown's high school, I will be visiting and I will not be a pleasant participant. Because I'm sorry, alcohol is no excuse. We've all done stupid things due to drinking too much alcohol, myself included. We've gotten sick, we've drunk called an ex, tripped, lost our car keys. These are accidents that we hate ourselves for during our hangovers. Sexual assault and rape are NOT accidents. Alcohol never excuses them.
The beautifully written response by the victim herself discusses their confusion the best. What she seems most upset about, and what we all should be most upset about, is how Brock Turner still seems confused as to his role in all of this. He still refuses to admit culpability. Neither will his father. It makes me wonder if the father would excuse "twenty minutes of action" if it was his son or wife who were the victims in this case. I understand that no parent wants to hear that their child has done heinous things, but excusing it as an alcohol-induced indiscretion is offensive to both the victim, her family, and sexual assault victims everywhere.
And this is more than a singular incident that has gained media attention. It shows how broken our society is. We continuously teach young women not to get raped - not to drink too much, never walk alone, don't wear anything too revealing to draw the wrong attention. Yet what we should be doing is teaching people not to rape. Because honestly, as awful as it sounds there is not much telling people not to rape. Very few cases are brought to court, most cases side with the perpetrator, and as this case shows, even if you are unlikely convicted, your sentence will not necessarily match your crime. This sentence of six months does not send the message that rape is seen as a serious crime in America. And that does not make me feel safe as a woman.
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