I’m sure just like me, many of you out there are enraged about the situation in America regarding the Stanford college rape and I’m sure like me, you don’t understand how today we still have to argue that there is no justification of rape. It confuses me that the rapist, Brock Turner, instead of working towards stopping rape culture in American Colleges, is planning to create an organisiation to stop excess drinking in American Colleges.
I think he’s missed the point – there were dozens of other people at that event, probably very drunk, and they did not sexually assault another human. Then try and excuse it.
The fact is, it is sad I have to keep repeating the word college because it has become somewhat of a social norm in American colleges to think of rape as a joke, something to make fun of – something which we do not tolerate in Australia and seems sociopathic. This has obviously been a culture that has been around for decades, you watch episodes of Law and Order: SVU from the 90’s with their college rape stories – the same story over and over again.
What most of us cannot understand – or at least me – is how and why is this still happening? It can’t be possible, however sadly it is. Behind American college rape stories there is the College Board members and their funding families – which hide these allegations over and over again. The story of Angie Epilfano in 2012 is a story I still hold close to my heart because it’s so offensive.
Society needs to stop glorifying people with the fastest running times or laps in a pool, society needs to start working towards helping victims and not shame them.
When she was raped and went to her rape councillor to ask to change dorms away from her rapist, her councillor said: “No you can’t change dorms, there are too many students right now. Pressing charges would be useless, he’s about to graduate, there’s not much we can do. Are you SURE it was rape?”
It all starts with the adults in your life and what they teach you. When you’re six you think 20 year olds are adults, then you turn 20 year old and you have no idea. Turner’s father defended his actions, the rapist councillor asked a victim if she was sure she was raped and the judge only gave Turner a 6-month sentence so that he doesn’t ruin his future.
When the original reports came out, it would explain the situation that had occurred that awful night and then right underneath it had Turner’s swimming times… another Oscar Pistorious. Society needs to stop glorifying people with the fastest running times or laps in a pool, society needs to start working towards helping victims and not shame them. Help us, help them.
Instead of an AA meeting Turner, he should be teaching others like himself what consent is and when it is okay to have any sexual affiliations with another person. It should be a lesson every student in American colleges is required to learn – we as a society need to kill this social norm so that finally, we can stop excusing rape.
Image source: Jerry Kiesewetter
