Rapist and registered sex offender Brock Turner’s lenient sentence is a mockery for sexual assault victims everywhere.

Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated/unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person; all of which he was found guilty. Although he was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation, he served three months in jail due to his good behavior.

Aaron Persky, the judge on the case, was worried that “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him,” but shouldn’t Turner have thought of that before he decided to sexually assault an unconscious woman?

Persky assured the public that Turner would not be a danger to others but prior reports suggest otherwise. Turner’s past with drugs and alcohol has lead him into trouble with law enforcement. He lied about his experience with drugs, alcohol and consistent partying.

Persky claims he had remorse over Turner because alcohol impaired his judgement, but if Turner’s use of alcohol is a habit, then who’s to say he won’t commit the same crime again?

Persky failed to remember that Turner wasn’t the victim. Turner, unlike the real victim, wasn’t the one that was half-naked on the ground behind a garbage dumpster. He didn’t have to brush off the traumatic night and get back to his “normal” life. He didn’t have to wait over a week to know what had happened to him that one night.

The media’s constant need to remind the public that Turner was a swimmer at Stanford University is unnecessary. There’s no need to shine the spotlight on him. He might’ve been a Stanford swimmer before the incident, but now he’s a rapist. He is and always will be a registered sex offender. There’s no need to reiterate that the victim had and still has a serious boyfriend. Rape is rape regardless of the victim’s relationship status.

Where’s the emotional support for rape victims; male or female? Turner’s victim went through a week before knowing what exactly happened the night before she woke up in the hospital. She found out she had been sexually assaulted the same time the rest of the world found out.

The Rape Abuse and Incest National Network reports that the majority of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.

Although women in college are three times more at risk of sexual violence than all women, college-age victims of sexual violence often don’t report their attacks to law enforcement. Out of every 1,000 rapes, 994 perpetrators will walk free.

Nicholls urges that a victim should seek medical attention even if they haven’t decided whether or not they’ll report the crime to the police. They should refrain from bathing, douching, urinating and changing clothes. Thibodaux Regional Medical Center in Thibodaux, Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma and St. Anne Hospital in Raceland all provide evidence collection.

All victims of sex offenses, domestic or dating violence and stalking can initiate a report with University Police, local law enforcement, Student Life/Judicial Affairs or Human Resources.