Brock Turner became the nefarious poster boy of rape culture and victim blaming this year after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at Stanford University and receiving an embarrassingly light jail sentence for his crime.
Though Turner only spent a measly three months behind bars, his crime transcended the courtroom thanks to the words of the young woman he violated, who penned a now-viral statement condemning her rapist’s actions.
This brave assault survivor, identified only as Emily Doe, was named Glamour‘s Woman of the Year. In a new essay published by the mag, she recounts the aftermath of the rape and Turner’s light sentencing.
Related: Father Who Raped 12-Year-Old Daughter Sentenced To TWO MONTHS In Jail!
Doe describes how because she was unconscious and had two sober witnesses during the incident, she was seen as “a best case scenario” for justice to prevail in her favor. She explains:
“I thought, if this is what having it good looks like, what other hells are survivors living? I’m barely getting through this but I am being told I’m the lucky one, some sort of VIP.”
But even with a “slam dunk” of a case, Turner still received a mere six-month sentence because Judge Aaron Persky worried the former swimmer would go through “a severe impact” by a harsher (i.e. more appropriate) punishment.
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While the sentencing made Doe feel “embarrassed for trying, for being led to believe I had any influence,” support from the media, the public, and even Vice President Joe Biden gave her hope.
As for future cases, Doe notes the fight for justice against those who commit sexual violence is far from over, continuing:
“If you think the answer is that women need to be more sober, more civil, more upright, that girls must be better at exercising fear, must wear more layers with eyes open wider, we will go nowhere. When Judge Aaron Persky mutes the word justice, when Brock Turner serves one month for every felony, we go nowhere. When we all make it a priority to avoid harming or violating another human being, and when we hold accountable those who do, when the campaign to recall this judge declares that survivors deserve better, then we are going somewhere… Victims are not victims, not some fragile, sorrowful aftermath. Victims are survivors, and survivors are going to be doing a hell of a lot more than surviving.”
So incredibly moving. Read the rest of Doe’s powerful essay HERE.
[Image via Twitter.]
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