A demonstration to express outrage over the six-month prison sentence handed to the former national athlete, Brock Turner, convicted of sexual assault, will take place at Stanford University on Sunday. Stanford students and right organizations such as UltraViolet will protest on Stanford’s Palo Alto campus just ahead of graduation ceremonies with banners saying “Protect Survivors. No Rapists”.
800,000 signatures were submitted to the Commission on Judicial Performance’s San Francisco officers Friday to ask for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky. According to protesters, Persky handed an incredible light sentence against former Stanford student, Brock Turner, for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in 2015.
According to people’s sentencing memorandum N B1577162 of the Superior Court of the Sate of California In And For The County of Santa Clara, on January 18, 2015, law enforcement officers, Deputy Taylor and Adams found an unconscious, but breathing woman in a field near the Kappa Alpha fraternity house.
“The victim was on the ground, in a fetal position, behind a garbage dumpster. She was breathing but completely unresponsive. Her dress was pulled up to her waist. Her underwear was on the ground, her hair disheveled and completely covered with pine needles,” as read in the document.
The deputies were alerted about the assault by two men who had pinned down and restrained a subject who was later identified as Brock Allen Turner.
According to these two men, they found Turner on top of a woman. As soon as they noticed she was unconscious, Turner ran away but briefly one of the men tackled him and held him down.
Later on, Turner was handcuffed by officers who claim the Stanford student smelled like alcohol. During the Turners investigation, detectives found that Brock had taken pictures of the victim’s breast and sent them to a group via Group me.
A witness confessed that the day of the assault he saw a woman that was lying on the ground behind the dumpster. A man who was standing over the woman had a cell phone and apparently was taking pictures as the witness saw some flashlights.
According to the victim’s sister, Turner, who tried to kiss and grab the victim the night of the assault, however, the victim pushed him back as she thought that was odd, later on, the Tuner tried to kiss her and put his hands around her waist.
The victim’s sister alleges that Turner had an aggressive attitude when he tried to kiss and grab the victim’s waist at a party the night of the assault. After being rejected, Turner went after the victim when she was alone and inebriated. He took her to an isolated place where he sexually assaulted her.
Another witness confessed that Turner was “grabby” and “touchy” when she danced with him at a fraternity party a week before the attack. She says he put his hands on her waist, stomach, and top things while dancing, which made her feel uncomfortable.
In his defense, Turner told deputies that he walked away from the frat house with the victim, and they kissed. Later on, they ended up on the ground, where he removed the victim’s underwear and digitally penetrated her for about five minutes. He said he did not take his pants off and that he never exposed his penis.
A six-month jail sentence with probation to Brock Turner
Brock Turner received a six-month jail sentence after having sexually assaulted unconscious women in 2015. The sentence could also be reduced up to 3 moths if the convicted has good behavior. Turner has to register as sex offender.
According to Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky, giving a six-month jail sentence with probation was appropriate, taking into account that Turner is 20 years old, and he does not have a criminal history. He also said that a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him, and he thinks that Turner will no be a danger to others.
One of the most controversial facts about this case is the letter the victim addressed to the national swimmer. In this letter, the victim explains what happened the day of the assault and the days after. This letter took a lot of people’s heart as she also talks about her position of being an unknown person while the rapist was a national athlete.
“See one thing we have in common is that we were both unable to get up in the morning. I am no stranger to suffering. You made me a victim. In newspapers my name was ‘unconscious intoxicated woman’, ten syllables, and nothing more than that. For a while, I believed that that was all I was. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am. That I am not just a drunk victim at a frat party found behind a dumpster, while you are the All American swimmer at a top university, innocent until proven guilty, with so much at stake. I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt, my life was put on hold for over a year, waiting to figure out if I was worth something,” said the victim.
UltraViolet, “Protect survivors, not rapists”
Ultraviolet, a women’s advocacy organization, filed a complaint in which denounces how rapists have been protected while should be the victims.
“Stanford students are justifiably outraged over a so-called justice system that protects privileged white rapists over the survivors of their crimes and nearly 900,000 UltraViolet members from California to Florida agree,” said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet.
Chaudhary also claims that America needs judges that take rape seriously since the country has already one in four women getting sexually assaulted while in college, she believes that this is the main reason why Judge Persky should be removed from his position.
In a full page in The Stanford Daily’s graduation UltraViolet is inviting all students to take a stand against rape, especially Turner´s sexual assault, as well as to ask for Persky removal from the Court.