What is Rape Culture?

In case you haven’t heard, a rape victim in California released her statement online after the convicted perpetrator received a paltry sentence of 6 MONTHS. Brock Turner was a freshman at Stanford University when he raped an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. Two witnesses apprehended him when they saw that he was thrusting on top of an unresponsive body. This seemed like a straightforward case: there was medical evidence AND there were witnesses. Yet the person in charge of this case, Judge Aaron Persky, gave Turner a lenient sentence instead of the many years he was supposed to spend in jail.

• Rape Culture is when a GUILTY man is given a slap on the wrist, while the victim’s life has been ruined.

“I can’t sleep alone at night without having a light on, like a five year old, because I have nightmares of being touched where I cannot wake up, I did this thing where I waited until the sun came up and I felt safe enough to sleep. For three months, I went to bed at six o’clock in the morning.”

• Rape Culture is the amount of abuse and doubt thrown at the victim because she was unconscious and did not remember the encounter.

“I was not only told that I was assaulted, I was told that because I couldn’t remember, I technically could not prove it was unwanted.”

• Rape Culture is when society decides that victims are automatically guilty of lying, or that they were somehow responsible for the events that happened.

“How much do you usually drink? Who dropped you off at this party? At what time? But where exactly? What were you wearing? Why were you going to this party? What’d you do when you got there? Are you sure you did that? But what time did you do that?”

• Rape Culture is the biased media coverage depicting all the good attributes of the culprit, and the lack of use of his mugshot.

• Rape Culture is evident in the audacity of Turner’s family when they discuss how Brock’s life has been ruined, with no mentions of the victim’s well-being. Rape Culture is when sexual assault is called ’20 minutes of action.’

Rape culture is when people think that they can do whatever they want to another person’s body with no consequences.

So when people tell you that rape culture, sexism, and sexual objectification doesn’t exist, show them this case. When somebody doubts a rape victim, show them this case. When people ask why rape victims are afraid to come forward, show them this.