Brock Turner's Rape Case Study

In the wake of Brock Turner’s rape case it is essential to stop for a moment and discuss what rape culture is. Turner has been found guilty for raping an unidentified 23 year old at a college party. Now, it may seem all fair and well, he committed a crime and is going to be punished for it, however, his punishment has made a lot of people furious. Turner was originally facing 14 years in jail,and rightfully so, however the judge, Aaron Pesky, saw it fit to only sentence him with 6 months jail with probation (O’Neill, 2016). This sentencing is absolutely atrocious.

Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a rubbish bin. She awoke in the hospital with bruising and scratches all over her body, dirt and pine needles had been shoved
When a girl complains about being catcalled on the street because it made her uncomfortable, and you tell her to just take a compliment, you are perpetuating rape culture. When a girl has one too many drinks at a party and is taken advantage of, and your reaction is that it is her fault she was raped because she got herself drunk, you are perpetuating rape culture. When you say that someone was “asking for it” because their skirt was too short, you are perpetuating rape culture. When you assume that men are never victims of sexual harassment or assault, yes, you are still perpetuating rape culture.

If you are still on the fence and are not sure whether or not rape culture exists, what if you knew that only 3% of rapists go to jail, the other 97% are never incarcerated (Chemaly, 2014). These numbers of so staggering because so many people are so quick to blame the victim. Questions such as, “What was she wearing?”,“Was she drinking?”, “Had she been flirting previously.” all work in favour of the rapist, making their case seem nothing more than an accidental
It is the rapist who does not apologise for the rape itself but instead for getting caught. It is a party filled with people who watch a girl being taken advantage of and, instead of helping her, send each other photos of her assault. It is the media focusing on how Turners actions will haunt him forever, instead of acknowledging that he made the choices leading to his verdict, while his victim did not get to choose.

Rape culture is victim blaming, slut shaming, and putting the burden of prevention on potential victims. It is television and film exploiting murder-rapes to get more ratings. Rape culture is every overweight girl whose sexual assault was met with reactions of, “just be glad someone wanted to have sex with you,”. All of these things contribute to a culture in which Turner is able to claim that even though he shoved his fingers into an unconscious girl’s vagina it was not rape. He has been given a world in which he feels he is entitled to her vagina, because in all honestly, this is a rapist’s