Brock Turner Rape Research Paper

Justice for Sexual Assault on College Campuses

The California case against the rapist, Brock Turner, former Stanford University student, went viral in June 2016. Nearly everyone in America has now heard of the rape of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, at a party on Stanford University’s campus, in January 2015 (Koren 2016). Unfortunately, that is not even close to the only account of sexual assault that has happened this year alone. According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, women ages 18 to 24 who are in college are 3 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault (RAINN 2016). 21.3 percent of female undergraduate students, “experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation”

They watched as the media adorned him with the title “talented swimmer” and talked about what a great athlete he was. The media implicated the terrible effect that the circumstances had on his life, but not on his victim’s. Americans watched Brock Turner’s father refer to the rape as, “20 minutes of action” (Miller 2016). Americans continued to watch as Brock Turner received only six months in jail for this rape, by a judge who decided anything else would have a “significant effect on his life” (Miller 2016). According to RAINN, only 6 perpetrators out of every 1,000 rapes will see any jail time. Out of those 1,000 rapes, only 334 will be reported, and of those reported rapes only 63 arrests will be made. Only 20 percent of female college students will report a sexual assault when it happens to them (RAINN 2016). Brock Turner’s lack of responsibility, the media’s lack objectivity and support for the victim, and the statistics that surround rape are all equally infuriating. As the statistics show, not very many rapists actually see jail time, so the motivation to report rape among regular civilians and among colleges is

20 percent of women in undergraduate programs will suffer sexual assault, and only 1 percent of their perpetrators will be punished (Rios 2015). Yet, there is still a debate around how colleges should handle sexual assault, despite the guideline in title IX. Many educators believe colleges and universities are not equipped to punish assailants, campus trials can be unfair, and some colleges have adopted an extremely abstract definition of sexual assault making it hard to punish (IQ2US 2016). On the other hand, other educators believe sexual assault hinders the learning environment and that the justice system inadequately punishes sexual assault (IQ2US 2016). It is not easy to come up with a solution. However, colleges do have the best platform to protect the victim, and they do have a responsibility to follow through with sexual assault complaints. Furthermore, colleges should not just follow through with title IX requirement and protect the victim, but they should also work with the authorities to see to it that adequate justice will be served. A serious reform needs to happen among colleges and the justice system, no matter the cost, so that more victims will come forward and find justice for what has happened to