TURNER: The recent Stanford rape case exemplifies America’s prevalent yet slowly shifting culture that allows offenders to walk and denies justice to victims.
By Claudia Smith, Staff Writer
For all people, regardless of gender or ethnicity, the sanctity of one’s own body is one of humanity’s most sacred natural rights. In the blink of an eye, Brock Turner, the ex- Stanford student who raped a female student behind a dumpster in the dead of night, violated this sanctioned right.
Turner is a recent offender in a long line of sexual assault cases on college campuses. Turner, aged 19, was charged and convicted of three counts of felony sexual assault, but the Supreme Court Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara county, sentenced him to only six months in prison— an appallingly short sentence by any reasonable standard of measurement. Even more shocking was the amount of time he served: just three months. With the reasoning being his “ good behavior,” this leniency sparked a protest of the entire judicial system, including the college (Stanford University), judge, law and culture that allowed this predator to be set free.
With such a harsh backlash, Stanford is committed to changing the problem. Shortly after the Turner case surfaced, Stanford banned consumption of hard alcohol as a preventative measure against sexual assault, and emails have been sent to students laying out the rule. Many students recognize sexual assault on campus as a major issue, yet it is not a factor that deters them from attending their schools of choice. Take Lauren Bywater and Sophia Helfand for example. They both are Poly graduates attending Stanford as freshmen this year. When asked if the Turner case caused them to have any doubts about attending the school, both responded negatively. “Stanford is a college campus, and unfortunately sexual assault happens on every college campus throughout the world,” Bywater said, revealing that she has “no doubts whatsoever.” “Stanford isn’t a perfect place, whereas some people think it is,” Helfand stated, although her opinion of the school did not change. No one seems to blame the school for what happened; they blame the culture that allows sexual assault to happen both on and off campus.
Turner’s extraordinarily light sentence is yet another example of the rape culture that plagues this nation. Through this culture, the United States has effectively normalized sexual violence, and blames the victims for their own assaults. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), as many as one in six women in the United States are victims of attempted or completed sexual assault. The survey also highlights the inherent danger that young women particularly face: “women ages 18-24 who are college students are three times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence […] Males ages 18-24, who are college students, are approximately five times more likely than non students of the same age to be a victim of rape or sexual assault.” Sexual assault is a woefully underreported crime due to the stigma of victimization, and in turn has a very low incarceration rate. Out of 1,000 rapes, the survey concludes, 994 perpetrators will avoid incarceration, which translates to 99.4% of rapists who will walk free.
Rape culture has been an undercurrent in society for years, but seldom have people acknowledged its existence. Victims are commonly blamed for their assaults due to their own actions; it becomes a victim’s fault, it seems, when he or she has been drinking, wearing non-conservative clothing, or “asking for it.” However, this culture is beginning to be recognized and society is moving toward a solution. The national outcry against Turner’s sentence is proof. Legislation in California is in the process of being changed to prevent offenders like Turner from escaping deserved prison time, and as a nation, America has become Turner’s judge. Turner will never be able to compete in USA Swimming competitions or in the Olympics, and his career options are majorly limited as result of the major publicity surrounding his case. He will pay for his actions for the rest of his life, as all offenders should. There is no place in society for these despicable people, and legislation should reflect that. Outcry against rape culture must continue in order for society to move past indifference, create awareness that it is happening and ignite activism on everyone’s part.