Brock And Dan Turner, Please Read This

I was seven years old when my mom taught me to “trust my gut” when it came to strangers who approached me when I was without adult supervision. I was taught how to kick, scream, and claw my way to safety should someone ever attempt to take me against my will.

I was eight years old when I was taught that my “private parts” were sacred and absolutely no one was allowed to touch me. I was given a series of possible scenarios and lines a predator may use to his advantage. I did not even know that such evil existed in the world.

I had just hit puberty and my body began to change. I was taught to wear bras and which clothes were and were no longer appropriate for my body type. I was taught how to conduct myself “like a lady” and given a list of do’s and don’ts.

At what age was Brock taught how to conduct himself as a gentleman? When was he given a list of do’s and don’ts when it came to socializing with the opposite sex? When was he taught that even a woman at her most vulnerable state of body and mind was not an object to be used? When Brock went off to college was he taught the importance of contraceptives, respect, and consent?

To Brock’s father: your letter defending your son only shines a light on where Brock adopted his entitlement—YOU. Your failure in teaching your son the simple basics about being a decent human being does not explain the choice he made the night he raped an unconscious female. He knows
right from wrong, does he not? Alcohol may impair judgement, but it does not override someone’s internal conscience. Brock knew in the moment that he CHOSE to take what was not his to TAKE, that he was wrong. Why else would he have run away? He was guilty. The only thing Brock did not think about was his victim. All it took was his “20 minutes of action” to invade his victim’s life; rip away her sense of safety; her sense of self; her trust in men? In 20 minutes, Brock stole a piece of his victim—forever. He trespassed on her body and into her soul. In 20 minutes, Brock changed her entire life.

So when did it become the right of all men to take advantage of any woman? When she drinks? When she trusts the wrong person? Maybe, it is when she dares to say “no” — if she is even graced with the opportunity to object.

I want you to think of your wife. If she were to go to a work party and have a few too many alcoholic drinks, would it be her fault if she were to be raped by a male co-worker? What if it only took ten minutes? Would that make a difference? What if your mother had a trusted, male friend who took advantage of her? Is that rape? What is your definition of rape? What is the meaning of “consent”?

Brock has no right to inform other men of the consequences of their actions when he doesn’t understand and accept the consequences of his own act of raping an innocent, unconscious woman. I don’t sympathize with his seemingly depressed state when he isn’t the victim—he is the PERPETRATOR!

Although I (along with many others) feel that his six month sentence is much too light, I am slightly satisfied that he is at least going to jail. I would never wish sexual assault or rape on any human, but I do hope jail is where he learns all the lessons you failed to teach. I hope he has to listen to his gut, to feel the hair stand up on the back of his neck when a particularly unsavory character approaches him. I hope he learns what is it like to live like a deer in the presence of merciless lions. I hope when his sentence has been served that he understands the price of his actions is one that cannot ever be repaid.