Shevannie T

12th Grade

Billings, MT

October 19th, 2016

Future President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Future President,

The main issue that I would like to introduce to you today, is the “punishments” that sexual assaulters receive. As you saw, I put the word punishments in quotations because that is the issue right there. There are no acceptable punishments for sexual assaulters. The punishments for the crime that the person has committed, is not viewed as serious as it actually is.

If you ask, many do think that sexual assault and rape is an issue, but they do not think that it is a very big issue in the United States. If you stand with these people, here are some statistics according to RAINN.org to help you understand yourself on how big of an issue it is:

82% of all juvenile victims are female and 90% of adult victims are female

Women ages 18-24 that are in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience rape or sexual assault

1 out of 6 of every American women has been a victim of attempted or completed sexual assault or rape

Not only are these victims scarred for the rest of their lives on what they experienced, but they go through very serious disorders afterwards. They go through extreme depression because they are confused and stuck on why another human being would even consider or think of doing what they did to another human being. They go through flashbacks reminding them every single day of what they had to go through. They think about the exact day, what they wore, what they did, and how they ended up where they were. They think about what they could have done differently to not end up in that difficult situation. And lastly the most serious symptom of all, pregnancy. If certain women have serious morals, they would want to give this baby a life, but they would have to carry a child in their body that they never expected would be made. They never expected to be raped and assaulted, let alone have a child.

Now, this crime can come with an extremely simple solution. Give these men more time in jail. That is all it takes to keep these men from continuing this crime. If the law keeps letting these criminals out, they will continue to do what they do. Sexual assault is hands down one of the biggest issues in America, and it needs to be stopped. Will you be able to stop every single assault and criminal out there? Of course not. But, if the law is more observative on the criminal’s actions and not success, they will be put away and the assault charges will decrease.