Victim of Assault Facing Lifetime Sentence vs. Offender’s Short-lived Punishment
A crime where the victim faces harsher repercussions than the offender.
Dominance of Sexual Assault on College Campuses
Sexual assault is one of the leading crimes committed within a college campus and majority of these assaults go unreported, but when they are brought to the attention of campus security and administration, victims often feel scrutinized or unsupported by their campus administration. I recently watched a documentary called The Hunting Ground that interviewed college students who were victims of sexual assault and those that disclosed their incident to their campus administration were faced with being blamed for the assault rather than their attacker. These college campuses provided no support, no aide, not even a sense of security that they would do anything about the matter. Instead, they made these victims feel like they did something to cause the assault to happen. One administrator had the audacity to compare rape to a football game to one of the victims, instead of explaining where do they go from there. What college campuses fear in light of rape accusations, is what these reported rape claims will do to the reputation of their institution. In their eyes, these rape allegations will obscure perspective students’ desire to want to attend that college; therefore, to prevent that from happening, they rather sacrifice their current students’ safety and keep these allegations unreported. By silencing these accusations, victims feel unprotected, offenders feel empowered and the possibility of this happening to another student is increased.
“Fewer than 5 percent of college women who are victims of rape or attempted rape report it to police…over 40 percent of those raped who did not report the incident said they did not do so because they feared reprisal by the assailant or others” — Rana Sampson, Acquaintance Rape of College Students (pg. 4)
People vs. Brock Turner
Brock Turner was a student athlete at Stanford, who was accused and convicted of assaulting an unconscious woman, but only served 3 out of his 6 months sentence. The victim states how Turner believed the victim was enjoying herself because she rubbed his back, but never gave a verbal consent to continue his assault. A back rub is not a substantial form of consent to continue assaulting a victim, but rather if Turner had asked and received permission, verbally and coherently, then he would not have found himself in this predicament? It is not just Turner who needs to realize this, but all offenders of sexual assault should acknowledge this to prevent being accused of rape and/or sexual assault. Turner’s short sentencing was due to the judge, who did not want Turner to be severely affected by submitting to jail time nor did he see Turner as a threat. But what about the impact Turner inflicted on the victim? How is it fair for the victim to live every day knowing that her attacker only has to suffer for 3 months for his actions, while she has to suffer for a lifetime with the horrific memory forever etched in her mind? How can the judge see Turner as harmless, after two witness disclose seeing him assaulting an unconscious woman and hearing what the victim went through that night? His status as white male, who attends a prestigious school, maintains a good GPA, is a student athlete, turned to alcohol to fit in with his peers and how much alcohol he had to drink that night provide no excuse as to why Turner committed the crime that he did. If a victim is unable to provide verbal consent, unable to walk and stand alone, and unable to form coherent sentences, then she is unlikely determined as a willing participant nor should the offender continue pursue his assault on her.
Impact of Sexual Assault/Rape
In her article Tools of war: Why cannibalism has disappeared but rape hasn’t, Chelsea Sommers correlates rape with cannibalism and how both instills fear and how both are done so because the predator (attacker, typically a male in the case of a rape) does not see the prey (victim, typically a female in the case of a rape) as one of them. I agree that these two have similar aspects with one another but I think the greatest difference between rape and cannibalism is the aftermath. Typically in cannibalism, the prey does not survive the attack; therefore, does not have to live in memory of the traumatic event. On the other hand, in rape, most victims do survive their attack and by survive I mean physically, their wounds will heal, but emotionally and mentally? That is the uncertain. People underestimate the long lasting effects and how impactful sexual assault can inflict on a victim. For the attacker, it might just be casual sex, but for the the victim, it is the complete opposite.
Impact on Victim vs. Impact on Attacker
Patricia Resick describes in her article, The Psychological Impact of Rape, the various cognitive ramifications that the victims face after an assault. To name a few, victims can develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, have suicidal thoughts and numerous other effects that the attacker does not have to experience for him or herself. Although these mental and emotional repercussions are not easily seen by the naked eye like how physical damages are, does not negate/diminish their existence nor have a less severe impact. On the contrary, it is much more impactful because physical wounds will heal over time, but the memory, the fear, the depression and the anxiety are not as easily mended. Not only do victims have to live with the psychological effects, but they have to endure the questioning, the recollection of the event, the victim shaming and the criticism of others when reporting a rape allegation. Instead of feeling relief by reporting their assault, victims are fearful of the reactions of others and of being blamed for the assault.
In comparison to the victim, the attacker can face criminal consequences, IF reported and convicted of the crime. I say if because not all sexual assault cases are reported, nor presented in court nor is the offender convicted. But if the attacker is found guilty, they can face jail time, register as a sex offender, or face social criticisms and etc. The main difference between the repercussions inflicted upon the victim and attacker is that victim never chose to have this happen to him or her; whereas, the attacker accepted these consequences of their actions when they chose to continue their assault without consent. The worse thing an offender has to endure is possible jail time; whereas a victim, endures the trauma and life-long psychological effects. Even if the attacker is convicted of the crime, their punishment is short-termed in comparison to permanent damages forced upon the victim.
Extinction of Rape
To put an end to rape, is to put an end to silencing rapes, victim blaming and light sentencing of convicted assailants. Sommers notes in her article how cannibalism was able go extinct and questions if rape can follow suit? I believe it can with the right processes. To end a pattern is to change the pattern; therefore, to end rape is to encourage victims to reporting their assaults by providing support and not judgement nor blame and to end softened sentencing regarding assault and rape. How do we expect people to acknowledge rape as a serious crime, if we continue to condone the perpetrators by setting them free or giving a light sentence? In order to put a stop to rape, we first need to acknowledge the severity of rape as a crime and the fault lies within the offender and not the victim. By putting the blame towards the victim, we allow the offender to feel that he or she does accept full responsibility for their actions and empowers them to feel that they can 1) get away with it and 2) do it again. By making the process of reporting an assault difficult on the victim, we instigate their desire to stay silent; therefore, we are indirectly silencing that rape as a crime. How much a victim has to drink, what the victim was wearing, what the victim was doing or where the victim was, once that victim says no or is unable to provide a verbal and coherent approval to move forward with the intercourse, then the offender should refrain from doing so. No victim should ever feel wrong for reporting a rape/assault nor should feel at fault at the event forced upon him or her. It is the offender who should feel shame and receive the harsh criticisms for taking away the victim’s ability to feel safe and instilling fear.
