I am angry. I am angry and Brock Turner isn’t who I am angry towards. How can you be angry towards someone who has so obviously conditioned to do whatever he wants with whomever he wants with no consequences. How can you be angry at a man who’s dad wrote a letter that likened rape to “20 minutes of action?” How can you be angry at a man who’s dad is more worried about his son eating a rib eye or potato chips, than he is that he took something so valuable from a woman? It is obvious that Brock has been raised and taught you are not in the wrong. No matter what you do. You are not in the wrong. How can you be angry at a man who had a FEMALE friend of the family write a letter blaming the victim so much that it cuts at your soul? How can we be angry at a man that has been taught through society that a woman’s body isn’t her own, it is his, and his to do what he wants with it?
I am not mad at him. I am mad at the justice system. I am mad at this system that tries to tell me on one hand to report that I have been assaulted, but on the other hand shows me that no matter what I report not only will the punishment not fit the crime, it will be laughable. This system is showing me that as a female being raped is not as bad as the rapist having to go to jail. It has shown me that being rich, white, and male will continue to be a literal get out of jail free card. This system has shown me that the punishment will not fit the crime. As the Huffington Post has shown, ” nearly 75 percent of the hundreds of thousands of people in local jails are there for nonviolent offenses,” yet it was too dangerous for a rapist? Huh?
This justice system has not only failed the victim. It has failed women in general. It has shown women that the system is not dependable. It has shown women that it can’t be trusted to do what is right. It has shown women that an being an athlete is more important than being a human being. It has blatantly shown women that the good ole boy’s network is alive and kicking when the judge, a Stanford alumni, gives the rapist 6 months because “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others.” The system has shown women that justice is only sporadically.
We as a country need to continue standing up to wrongdoing done by people, but also by the government. We cannot be afraid to stand up to injustices like this.
I am angry. The one institution who was to protect didn’t do its job.
The question should now be what can we do? We can’t sit around being angry because being angry will get nothing solved, it will not fix things, and it will not change things.
Let’s channel our anger by:
1. HAVING HARD CONVERSATIONS. Conversations about consent, what consent really is, alcohol and consent, about women’s bodies, and the importance of bystander intervention. Alcohol cannot and will not be the reason or the excuse. If you wonder how to talk about consent please watch this awesome video by the Thames Valley Police. Consent Video “It’s Simple As Tea”
2. CONTINUING TO BADGER JUDGE PERSKY. We need to continue to badger Judge Persky about the offensiveness of his decision, how the decision affects the victim in the case, and how also other sexual violence victims who were going to come forward, but might not because of the lack of punishment offenders receive. We need to continue to let him know how detrimental his actions are to society and to women. Sign any or all of these petitions to show Judge Persky we are not giving up.
MoveOn.Org to remove Judge Aaron Persky from the bench
White House Petition to impeach Judge Persky for Bias Shown in Brock Turner Sentencing
3. POSTING INFORMATION ABOUT BROCK TURNER. Continue to post his picture. Continue to tell his story and all the horrifying details. We continue to show he deserved more than 6 months in protective custody. We use him as the example that although the justice system didn’t punish him, we as a society will. Good luck getting a job!!
4. INTERVENING. Do not be afraid to help someone or ask questions if a situation doesn’t look right to you. The rape victim in the Brock Turner case is lucky because of Carl-Fredrik Arndt and Peter Jonsson, two Swedish Ph.D student who saw something that did not look right. A woman escaped being drugged by her date because Sonia Ulrich, Monica Kenyon and Marla Saltzer said something to the girl and management when they saw the man drugging his date’s drink. The point is if you see something say thing. If you see something that concerns you please don’t ignore the situation. The people listed above did not ignore it and they ended up helping 2 women.
Article Swedish students heros
If you love what I wrote, don’t hesitate in clicking on the “buy me a coffee” button! Coffee is always appreciated and needed when staying up writing blogs!
