I read the victim's letter. A beautiful and chilling piece of writing that I hope his family have bothered to read and digest.
The sentence is a disgrace. I'm shocked that it's even possible to hand out such a joke sentence for a crime like this.
Brock's sister noted he won't be a great athlete now. Won't be a surgeon. I feel sad that his life is wasted in these ways - but glad he was caught at the outset. This is justice and he will be paying for it all his life. I only hope his victim finds complete peace, wholeness and healing in time to fully enjoy the rest of her life, unfettered by consequences of his sin.
I dislike the fudging of the rape issue through the use of the word 'promiscuity' from Brock. At the same time, I think it would be no bad thing if someone spoke to students caught up in the drinking culture and highlighted the catastrophically poor decisions that can be more easily made under the influence of alcohol - the depressing of inhibition, the depressing of conscience, the likelihood of more impulse-driven behaviour. I'm not saying that he isn't a rapist when sober - he clearly is - but I don't know if he would have carried out this crime while sober. We'll never know. But I do think that drinking to excess makes rape more likely, rather than less likely to happen, not only because of the reasons mentioned already in this paragraph, but also because it can create a 'wounded antelope' who, while not responsible for being 'wounded' or morally accountable in any way, would nevertheless have not been 'wounded' if not drinking to excess. Whether women ultimately decide to change their behaviour to avoid looking 'wounded' or opt to live their lives freely and leave it up to the Brocks of this world to stop behaving monstrously, I would like them to weigh it up and have the chance to consciously make that choice, rather than waking up on a hospital trolley and realising, after the fact, that they've been 'picked off'.
In the stunningly eloquent victim impact letter there is a slight contradiction that speaks to a problem around the consent issue that I believe needs to be straightened out. The victim notes that she wasn't asked for her consent and it seems to me at this point that she is making the point that he should have asked for it. This is an important point because if asking consent is really absolutely necessary for all men before intercourse, there needs to be a widespread acknowledgement of this. I say this because I don't think all men are aware that they should always ask for consent (although clearly in these circumstances the victim was in no fit state to give or refuse consent and the question would have been void).
Later, on hearing that Brock claim he did ask for consent and received it, the victim (rightly in these circumstances) refuses to believe it, stating that consent is not usually asked for but there is usually a consensual unfolding of events. (I don't have her exact words in front of me). So is she saying that men should ask for verbal consent, or not? While I can easily see that in these circumstances, it is preposterous of Brock to claim he asked for consent, I'm uneasy with the assumption that any man claiming he received consent will be disbelieved because 'who does that?'. I think this issue needs more thought and direction from women in general because while we are of course clear about our expectations of men in relation to the unacceptability of rape, we are not crystal clear about whether we expect to be verbally asked for consent or not. Personally, I think it would be great if the 'consensual unfolding of events' idea was widely thrown out as bad practice because I think many women who go along with unwanted sex (as opposed to non-consensual sex) might say 'no' if given the opportunity to do so by a straight question. Though going along with unwanted sex is an area where more education of women is needed.
I fully support the idea that 'rape is rape' - there is no difference in rapes and therefore no degrees of rapist. Saying they are all predators is simply saying it how it is. However, I also think there is also a danger there because there are rapists and potential rapists who did not perhaps consciously plan to carry out a rape in their lives prior to the circumstances in which they went on to rape. For this group of would-be rapists, it might be helpful to point out that anyone can, in the circumstances, make the choice to be a rapist. It's something for all of us to guard against vigilantly (eg. by always seeking verbal consent, making a prior decision never to have a sexual encounter with someone who seems drunk etc.). I think there's a possibility that Brock never foresaw he would carry out these action beforehand because he didn't realise the potential for darkness within himself and didn't identify as a monster. Although I don't think he's the person to give 'talks' on campus, I do think that his experience could encourage students of both genders to think about these issues.