The Light at the end of a Dark Tunnel
This story is about a girl who was able to find the light at the end of a very dark tunnel in her life and she has become an inspiration to many, if not all women. A recent tragedy, the story took place in 2015 at Stanford University. The story goes like this, it was a typical college party on a typical college campus, alcohol surged through the rooms of the party, college students who attended were having a good time, letting go of their worries and enjoying the night. There was a 22-year old girl was at this party. She was visiting her sister for the night and was innocently consuming alcohol much like the rest of the people at this party, and as the night went on, so did the partying. At some point during the night, she was approached by a boy who has also been partying the night away. Soon, one thing led to another and the boy had brought her outside, behind some garbage cans and began to rape her. He stripped her of her clothes and had his way with her while she was completely unresponsive and was not in the right state of mind to give any kind of consent. The boy continued this action until interrupted by two boys passing by who tackled him to the ground and saved the girl from this terrible occurrence. The girl was sent to the hospital and was examined by several doctors, all to find out that she had been raped. She contemplated keeping this to herself but it was eating her up inside and she finally told herself that she needed to take action. She started by confronting her family and her boyfriend about what had happened and soon after, the case was brought to court. After hearing the case in court, the judge ruled that the rapist would be given the smallest sentence of just three counts of sexual assault and only six months in jail, all because he was an award winning athlete at Stanford University and his parents were able to use their money to afford a highly skilled attorney that would get him off.
The story was broadcasted on all the news stations when the verdict was made, but when her story became public, it seemed as though the news and social media focused more on her words rather than the rape story itself. I first read this story on Facebook, after I had seen someone share it on their timeline. The minute I heard of this story, I really felt for her and I got to thinking about how many girls are out there, struggling to come to terms with their own demons. This story truly touches my heart because I know of many girls who have been affected by rape and their rapists, too, got away with such a horrible crime, because they were afraid to speak up and bring them to justice. This story and her words have further inspired me to pursue the one dream I have always had, to become an attorney some day. Hearing this makes me want to fight for justice and for those girls who have experienced such a traumatic occurrence because no one should be taken advantage of this way. This story is broadly known throughout the United States because of the media coverage that it was given and because this girl is one of the very few victims of rape who actually spoke up and confronted her demon to the world. I have shared and will continue to share this tragic, but inspiring story because I believe that people should be aware of the problems that we face every day in the United States.
This story has since been made an inspiration to many people throughout the states. The girl’s words have truly touched the hearts of America, as many people much like myself have expressed their anger towards the justice system, and the rapist, and their empathy towards the girl and her family. Soon after this story was broadcasted, an online petition was made against the judge who wrongly sentenced the rapist in this case. The petition received thousands of signatures from all over the U.S. and it gave people a reason to fight for justice against people who have gotten away with their actions because they have money. It shouldn’t matter how much money a person has, if you commit a crime, you must pay the price for it, in every single case, and America has realized that this whole story was so wrong in so many ways, from the action itself by this boy, to the verdict that he was given, and now it is time for change. How many girls must be raped before we realize the corruption of our justice system?
justice, women, girls, strong, fight, rape culture, USA, social media
