Sexual Abuse

I Can't Eat Steak Anymore

What white male rape privilege looks like

Posted June 7, 2016

Source: Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff

A former All-American swimmer at Stanford was sentenced last week to just 6 months in a county jail (3 months for good behavior) after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a campus dumpster in January of 2015. The assault was interrupted by two students who tackled Turner and held him down until police arrived.

The case which includes the withholding of his mugshot from the public along with the leniency against 20-year-old Brock Turner is what some say is the epitome of white, male privilege where race, class, and athletics afforded him protection against his crime against his unnamed victim.

While unnamed, the victim read her 12 page impact statement in court sharing her feelings about the inequities in the legal system in rape cases along with the psychological scars she's suffered since that night. "One more time, in public news, I learned that my ass and vagina were completely exposed outside, my breasts had been groped, fingers had been jabbed inside me along with pine needles and debris, my bare skin and head had been rubbing against the ground behind a dumpster, while an erect freshman was humping my half naked, unconscious body. But I don’t remember, so how do I prove I didn’t like it."

In response, the defendant's father shared his thoughts on how his son's life has also changed in a pre-sentencing report. In addition, to sharing how his son suffers from anxiety and depression, he laments how Brock Turner no longer enjoys eating Ribeye steaks and feels prison is too severe for "20 minutes of action." The judge who also is a Stanford alum agreed and defended his sentencing by stating Turner had no “significant” prior offenses, had been affected by the intense media coverage, and “there is less moral culpability attached to the defendant, who is...intoxicated”. A petition has started to have this judge recalled due to light sentence (maximum sentence calls for 14 years in prison).

Just as disturbing as the sentencing is the defendant's family's lack of empathy and/or understanding of how the sexual assault impacts the unnamed victim. As a psychotherapist in private practice who has worked victims of sexual abuse and other offenses, the father's tweet only reinforces to his son that he should not be held responsible for his actions. What's also apparent from the father's defense is how his son is spinning this story to one about the "dangers of alcohol consumption and sexual promiscuity". Apparently as part of his sentencing Brock Turner will be sharing his thoughts about binge drinking and it's "unfortunate results". This is highly insulting as alcohol is being targeted to blame as opposed to Brock Turner's decision to rape a woman while under the influence of alcohol.

Just as disturbing is the support from one of Brock Turner's childhood friends, Leslie Rasmussen who continues to see this as anything but rape. "This is completely different from a woman getting kidnapped and raped as she is walking to her car in a parking lot. That is a rapist. These are not rapists. These are idiot boys and girls having too much to drink and not being aware of their surroundings and having clouded judgment."

When men and women are convicted of DUI's after killing someone while driving drunk and are asked to do educational presentations, they don't focus on the binge drinking. Instead, they talk about their irresponsible decision to drive and the impact it's had on the victim's families. This should be Brock Turner's message. Not one regarding drinking and how it's impacted his life but how his victim has been traumatized for life and will always live with the emotional, psychological, and physical scars of sexual assault.