Beyond Brock

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been setting aside any articles, videos, or posts that are related to rape.  And with the release of Brock Turner a couple weeks ago, I thought I would post some of the things that I came across associated with his story...

The first is a video reaction to his release after only 3 months in jail. 

This video clearly states a common reaction to Brock Turner's release.  The woman interview, a raper survivor herself, brings up several valid points with Brock's early release (let alone, the short sentence that he did receive). 

The second is an article about steps California has taken since the fallout from the sentencing of Brock Turner. 

This is a good start: mandatory sentences for "whenever the victim is intoxicated or unconscious and the perpetrator does not have to use force".  However, this law should be expanded.  What makes the rape of a woman who isn't intoxicated or is conscious (rather, a forceful act) unworthy of a mandatory sentence?  I think that this falls into our discussion of hierarchy and how we view certain acts.  Perhaps, in the minds of those that created the law (in conjunction with the national attention that the Brock Turner case brought), prompted the lawmakers to only consider "without force" to be deserving of a mandatory sentencing.  But I would argue that any instance of rape should come with a mandatory sentencing.  Rape in and of itself is a violent act and should be treated as such, no matter if it was forceful or not. 

The third is an article about a policy that Stanford is enacting in lieu of Brock's case.

I find this article to be really interesting.  The university is attempting to dissuade sexual assault on their campus by banning hard alcohol and limiting bottle sizes (for those over twenty-one).  This ban, however, does not apply to graduate students.  Therefore, it begs to question why Standford thinks that graduate students wouldn't be prone to committing sexual violence.  I think that this is a misstep for the university.  To make allowances for a specific group, perhaps based on age, does not remove the possibility of sexual assault occurring.  The truly revolutionary approach would have been to ban hard liquor on campus for all students.  Why would the university want to the maintain a possibility of sexual assault on their campus (which they are inherently doing by allowing graduates access to hard liquor)?  And like the professors in the article pointed out - Standford is still not dealing with the issue of consent. . 

Finally, a photographer takes a visual approach (Note: graphic images) to make a statement about Brock's release and the problem of sexual assault.

These photographs have an almost disturbing effect to them.  The "victims" dead stares are haunting--making these images so powerful.  Even considering the violent positions that the "victims" are placed in show the realities of sexual assault.  Perhaps the most revealing aspect about these photos is the diversity of race and gender.  As stated by the photographer "I don’t want to demonstrate that only a black man can rape a white man. You don’t know the strength of a person. You don’t know their capabilities"