Dear future President,

Rape, is a huge problem in America. Currently, in 2016, rapists are not getting their well deserved time, or for some any time at all. Many victims of sexual assault are of the age of 12 or older. In a study from the years 2000-2005 about 60% of rapes were not reported to law enforcement. This was most likely known due to people coming out years later after the incident or trusting a friend who then told, who knows? As you can see numbers like this are ridiculous and need to change. Imagine if that was your child or grandchild? The sentencing time of people who committed sexual assault crimes is not as high as it should be.

We need to up the sentencing of time rapists spend in jail due to this horrific and disgusting crime that too many are getting away with. If you have never heard, back in January of 2015, Brock Turner was indicted on counts of rape of an intoxicated person and rape of an unconscious person. On June 2, 2016, he was sentenced to six months in Santa Clara County Jail. Out of those six months, he served three, he only got off early because it would “tarnish” his reputation and most likely because his family is rich. In my opinion the girl who was assaulted didn’t get her rightful justice and now her rapist is back out there.

Just the thought of rape being a thing makes me disgusted, and I’m even more disgusted that the statistics are super high at points where they shouldn't be at. Currently, 32% of people raped were between the ages of 12-17. Studies conducted by RAINN have also shown that 1 in 33 men and boys get raped as well. Those numbers are ridiculously high. If people didn’t fear their rapists would only be in jail 6 months, they’d most likely go through the pain of reporting the crime. So this is where you come in. If you create laws so rapists spend more than 6-12 months in jail, it could possibly lower the number of rapes in the US.

It is nobody’s fault but the offender; victims shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. If people didn’t see the realistic TV shows depicting what could potentially happen in court, then victims might come forward and report the rape done against them. I read an article about a girl named Elizabeth Willette she came out and told her rape story, she had written: “My detective spoke with the rapist, who claimed I consented while I was intoxicated, and concluded this wouldn’t be admissible in court. I tried my hardest to reason with him, to explain that there is no consent when you are too intoxicated to think clearly or when you are drugged.” That's pretty disgusting if someone would even think for a second that it would even be right to ask for sex when you know the person you’re asking is intoxicated.

Schools should educate kids at a younger age so they are more educated to the topic of rape. If you educate kids at a younger age and work it into their health education curriculum, there is less of a chance the new generation are likely to commit the act of rape. Not 100% likely to work, but it is a way to go and could seem like a potentially good way.

Rape is such an important topic to America because every two minutes an American is raped, which means it could be happening now. So, as America’s new president, it would be amazing if you chose to go head to head with this problem and fix it by making the victims feel safer when reporting their rape. That could potentially only happen by raising the time a rapist spends in jail, and educating the next generation of young adults and children on this topic.

Sincerely,

Kyla M

Works Cited

Rape Treatment Center. “Statistics”. http://www.911rape.org/facts-quotes/statistics

Kids Health. “Rape”. http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/rape-what-to-do.html

RAINN. “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics.” https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence.

End Campus Rape. “Survivor Stories”. Willette, Elizabeth. http://endcampusrape.com/survivors/elizabeth-willette/

Think Progress. Fleischer, Victoria. “Our culture perpetuates sexual violence. It doesn’t have to be this way.” https://thinkprogress.org/culture-sexual-violence-d09255a06504#.3b0pqax50