The Rape Trial Of Brock Turner Essay

Envision the best collegiate football player you know. There’s a good chance his fame is attributed to how aggressive he is, praised for his no-mercy attitude. While this mentality suits the field, it can translate onto college campuses, where many student-athletes are recruited to play for the school. A case study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania revealed that certain environments encourage aggression over others. Societies with higher levels of male dominance, tolerance of violence, and greater gender segregation tended to fall into this category. Now recall that collegiate football player. Sound familiar?

“Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality… And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives.”

“I wanted to take off my body like a jacket and leave it at the hospital with everything else.” These were the words of a victim of sexual assault at Stanford University in January of 2015, often remembered as the Brock Turner case. Turner, a member of the Stanford swimming team, was found guilty by the jury after being accused of sexually assaulting another Stanford student (whose identity has remained confidential) and ended up with a short sentence of six months (Victor). The sexual assault victim in the turner case is not alone. 1 in every 5 women and 1 in every 12 men are sexually assaulted during their college careers (NSVRC). In other words, between 20 and 25 percent of college women and 4 percent of college men report having been sexually

As a result, Brock Turner was sentenced to six months for his actions. He was also a hopeful Olympic swimmer and was banned from competing in USA Swimming competitions. Many in the country were furious that Turner was only sentenced to six months, believing that he deserved a more appropriate sentence. On the other hand, Turner’s father was upset that his son’s life was ruined by “20 minutes of action” while under the influence of alcohol. Despite the victim arguing for an appropriate legal prosecution and justice for the pain she suffered, the Supreme Court judge assigned to the case, Aaron Persky, stated, “a prison sentence would severe impact on him. I think he will not be a danger to others (Stack). Turner was even released early from

Attributions of rape blame may be related to variables such as alcohol consumption and resistance used during a sexual assault. As noted, by Coates, Bavelas, and Gibson (1994), “trial judgments frequently include a description of how the complainant resisted the assault” (p.195). Many perpetrators of sexual assault realize that it is harder for women to resist sexual advances when intoxicated; thus, alcohol is often used as a tool of coercion in pursuing ‘sex’ (Mosher & Anderson, 1986). Furthermore, a victim’s intoxication at the time of assault can impact a rape trial in two ways. First, alcohol creates contention around consent (Cowan, 2008). That is, it is difficult to determine,

Two men passing by witnessed Turner on top of the victim. When police were called, they found her unconscious, in fetal position. The two witnesses had pinned down Brock Turner and kept him there until law enforcement arrived. Consequently, Turner was charged with five felony counts, which later got reduced to three, a sentence of a maximum 10 years in prison, and he would have to register as a sex offender. There were two witnesses, the police caught him, remarks that Turner had made unwanted advances towards women at parties before had been reported, yet Brock Turner got out with a 6 month sentence, which resulted in an early release, getting out after 3 months. Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman and served less than half a year for it. Rape culture is still relevant due to situations like the Brock Turner case. Cases in which victim blaming is a large component make sexual assault seem justifiable by cause of a victim’s inappropriate clothing or incapacitation. The objectification and blaming of sexual assault victims is ubiquitous in the United States and it urgently needs to be

March 16th, 2017 was the fateful day that a 14 year old girl's life was changed forever. She is a freshman at Rockville High School and was raped by two illegal immigrants, Jose Montano, 17, and Henry Sanchez, 18. This horrendous act caused an outrage in the Montgomery County community. Many protested outside of the high school with signs screaming “safety not sanction” and “save our daughters no sanction” ("Rockville High School Parents Demand Answers in Rape Case"video). There is more than meets the eye when it comes to this case and there is plenty of evidence to prove so.

One way rape victims are handled improperly through the criminal justice system is by victims characteristics. This may include the victim's age, job, risky behavior such as drinking or using drugs. When a victim portrays any of these characteristics, most times it is often thought of that they provoked the offender or made the opportunity easier. This attacks the reputation of the victim, most times this determines whether chargers will be filed or not. This is an accuse for people to blame the victim for her action.

After midnight on the 18th of January in 2015 the Stanford rape case started. Brock Turner who was the assailant at this time found the victim unconscious behind a dumpster near the school campus. Leaving the victim to fend for herself after such a crime, the victim mentioned walking to a hospital bloodied and dirty, having to go through excruciating amounts of emotional pain and invasive exams in order to collect the evidence that was required to prosecute the assailant in court. The Stanford rape case is not just a single rare occurrence;

Problems With Rape Trials * It is proposed to replace the current s.38 of the Crimes Act

The following is a review of the article If a woman isn’t bruised and bleeding, will her rape be counted?, which was written by Stephanie Hallett. The article includes information concerning rape cases in America and how law enforcement has used an outdated definition to exclude many cases from formally being reported to the Uniform Crime Report of the FBI. Hallett presents many discrepancies that are apart of each rape case and how they have been used to oppress rape victims. Societal flaws are passed the blame of disintegrating respect for women and minorities

extent of which an exposing article covers. Newspapers and magazines have a certain number of subscriptions but are often provided to public venues such as waiting rooms and restaurants. Similarly, digital articles can be shared, posted, tweeted, and blogged. Links are emailed to friends and family. Furthermore, these articles inspire others to comment on the subject and post their own opinions both positively and negatively. In the article “The Media Should Not Post the Names of Rape Victims,” the author Amanda Paulson does just that. Paulson brings up stellar examples of double standards between how the media reports women’s rapes. The opposing article, “The Media Should Publish the Names of Both Accuser and Accused in Rape Cases,” the author, Geneva Overholser, believes that the whole story should be told. In both articles, the authors are very much are in favor of protecting the victims, but the authors are divided between protecting the attacked and releasing the whole truth.

Rape culture has been seen in many ways throughout the media. For example, during one of our readings we learned how rape and violence against women were being seen as normal, in song lyrics. Rape culture is also reinforced in films and movies. But, I decided to focus my manifesto project on how rape culture is represented in the news media. I have personally read and seen how the news media often blames the victim for being raped. Although they don’t state it so obvious, if you pay close attention you can see it. I believe this is an important issue given that it reinforces the idea that a victim of rape is responsible for it, which isn’t the true. Anyone who is raped is not responsible for what happened to them. If the news media, along with

Media plays a big role in normalizing assault, along with our society’s perception of rape and its victims. According to a report by the Marshall University Women’s Center, “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. The same report then makes the statement that rape culture is,” perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objection of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence thereby creating a society disregards women’s rights and safety.”

Society’s cultural beliefs dictate a woman’s actions. She should not go out alone, stay late at the office, or wear what she wants. She must always be confined by societal limitations. Sadly, these social roles also affect how the criminal sentences of rape defendants are enforced. The criminal justice system fails to provide fairness. The court varies the criminal sentences of an individual based off male privilege because it is just “boys being boys”. The lack of accountability fosters rape culture instead of minimizing it. Although the criminal justice system is intended to protect women, the judicial treatment of defendants reinforces rape culture and sexual inequality.