Each week, the Lasso Editorial Board will comment on an issue that is relevant to the students at George Mason High School. We strive to present a student-oriented opinion about topics big and small that matter to all of Mustang Nation.
Brock Turner, a 20 year old student at Stanford University, was charged and convicted of three felonies of sexual assault against an unconscious woman. His sentence? Six months in county jail with probation and sex offender registration.
As I first read the news of the case, I was outraged and appalled that an act so terrible amounted to a mere six months. Over the course of the next few weeks, I saw dozens of Facebook and Twitter posts of people angrily venting about the verdict.
It is unacceptable that the sexual assault of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster in the middle of the night deserves half a year in jail, even a quarter of a year on good behavior. And the fact that Turner’s father called it “20 minutes of action” in his letter to the court is even more disgraceful.
But even this is not the most worrying aspect of the story. The reality is that one in five women will be sexually assaulted in college, and 63% of those will go unreported. That means, I have a 20% chance of being raped while at college.
I worry that, in two years, when I am a freshman at college, away from home for the first time, I will be “taken home” after a fraternity party by a guy I just met and assaulted. If it isn’t me, it might be my roommate. Or a friend I just met.
This frightens me.
The fact that I – and young women my age – have to worry about potentially being sexually assaulted while unconscious behind a dumpster is unacceptable.
Cases like People v. Turner do not help young women report their sexual assaults more often because the common worry is that they will be questioned irrationally at the police station, dragged through years of painful trials recounting their worst night, and shamed for drinking or wearing revealing clothing.
I should not have to constantly look over my shoulder when I’m out.
Like everyone else I’ve talked to, I agree that this sentence is ridiculous and shameful and our society should be embarrassed by the judge in Turner’s case. But what is even more ridiculous and shameful is the extent to which actions like this take place every day on college campuses.
