Join ani and lyn as they look at rape culture through the lens of the recent Brock Turner sentencing. Turner received a 6 month sentence in the county jail after being found guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault. In the sentencing, Judge Persky said "I think he will not be a danger to others." Really??? The survivor of the attack wrote a brilliant and powerful public letter to Turner-- we wonder what she thinks about him being a danger to others.
In a character reference letter written to Persky, a friend of Turner's said, "rape on campuses isn't always because people are rapists." She went on to explain, "This is completey different from a woman getting kidnapped and raped as she is walking to her car in the parking lot. That is a rapist. These are not rapists. These are idiot boys and girls havingtoo much to drink and not being aware of their surroundingand having clouded judgement."
Another friend wrote, 'Brock Turner is a great young man whose morals are strong and would never do something like he was convicted of." And this said, even after he was caught assaulting the unconscious woman? He wouldn't? Seems that there were witnesses that say otherwise.
Turner's father wrote to the Judge Persky to plead for leniency saying, "“His life will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve.... That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.”
Persky says he understood that the survivor of the assault has been devistated by the act, but he gave Turner a light sentence because sending him to prison would have had a "severe impact on him." Excuse us... but the man was just found guilty of three counts of sexual assault. He assaulted a woman while she was unconscious, behind a dumpster, and was found mid-act by witnesses... and the judge is worried about him being negatively impacted by going to prison?
So-- what does all this say about rape culture? How does the stereotype that nice boys don't rape actually help to perpetuate rape? What do you have to say about this? Call the studio during the show and join the conversation at 503-231-8187.
You can like us on Facebook where you can find us as /positivelyrevolting
Follow us on Twitter @PositiveRevolt
- KBOO