Rape at Stanford

Lessons From the Stanford Rape

The View from the Middle

A little over a year ago, a young man named Brock Turner took advantage of an inebriated, unconscious young woman behind a dumpster on Stanford’s campus.   This opening line should be proof enough for most of us that this was not a consensual act.  This March, a jury found him guilty of three felony charges of sexual assault (technically not rape) and the judge sentenced him to six months in jail and three years of probation. 

This set off a firestorm of criticism across the country suggesting the sentence was insufficient and demanding a recall of the judge, Aaron Persky.  While this approach might make some people feel better, it has little chance of success and even less of a chance of diminishing rape on college campuses across this country.  There are, however, a few actions that we could take as a people that might actually put a light on this epidemic and help bring it under control.

First, this young woman took this to court and weathered the persecution that she knew would come with her actions.  Too many women fail to report their rapes even when sobriety is not an issue.  Learn from this brave young woman and demand justice.  She also wrote a lengthy account of her feelings about that night and the entire trial process.  It is lengthy, but I have supplied a link below for your convenience.  I do encourage you to read it to get a full appreciation of what she endured.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/heres-the-powerful-letter-the-stanford-victim-read-to-her-ra?utm_term=.qo5xW1G22M#.cuWX9Emllo

Second, this would show that the system will actually work if you give it a chance.  Turner was only sentenced to six months in jail, but also got three years of probation and a life sentence on the sexual offender register.  Even a three year jail sentence, which is what the victim in this case asked for, would have only resulted in a year and a half of actual time served.  I would have certainly approved of that longer sentence, but the real deterrent is a lifetime of embarrassing explanations of the disgusting behavior that qualifies any person for such a register.

We need to make these consequences of rape abundantly clear to every incoming freshman on every campus in America.  I can’t imagine a university that would resist delivering this sort of “no tolerance” message to their students since the cost would be minimal and the impact could be so dramatic.  I personally can’t imagine what pleasure a man would get from a sexual encounter like the one described in this case, but for those who might, a vision of life on the sex offender register might be just the medicine they need to resist the temptation.

Finally, let us address the elephant in the room.  In her petition to the judge the victim in this case wonders if this sexual abuse could have been avoided if she had not been intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness.   Would Mr. Turner have simply moved to a different victim or would this incident have not occurred at all?  While better judgment on her part might not have changed the circumstances for Brock Turner, I think it is fair to conclude that it would have changed everything for this young lady.

So the big take-away from this terrible incident is for women (and men too) not to put themselves at risk by over indulging in alcohol, especially when in the company of men who are probably doing the same thing.  This in no way suggests that this young lady is to blame for this incident, but when anyone reduces their physical and mental capabilities to the point of making themselves defenseless, it makes them vulnerable to reprobates like Brock Turner.  You can be innocent, but still suffer grave damage.

In closing, if you are a young man who takes advantage of women as in this case, know that you disgust me and virtually all of the rest of society and you deserve whatever punishment our system allows.  If you are a young woman, especially on a college campus, I beg you not to put yourself at risk.  Even better, I would ask you to keep a vigilant watch out for your fellow sisters of the world and step in when you see situations like this developing.  While a disaster avoided cannot always be identified, it is no less consequential.