Dr. Cathryn Lavery, head of the criminal justice and sociology Department, and Student Government Association President senior Kayla Kosack held an assembly entitled “What Exactly is 20 Minutes of Action?” on Sept. 22 in the End Zone. The event discussed sexual assault, rape myths and victim blaming. Brock Turner, known as the “Stanford Rapist,” was one of the inspirations for the event.

The two stressed the importance of understanding the true definition of these offenses, and how to prevent them from occurring on campus.

One in five college students are victims of sexual assault, according to statistics presented at the event.

“That’s the same statistic from 1982, we haven’t changed a thing,” Lavery said about the false belief that college campuses have decreased the number of sex crimes that occur.

Lavery said that sexual assault affects men as well as women.

“There is still something we aren’t doing right,” she said. “Anybody can be a victim.”

Before the open discussion began, Lavery and Kosack showed students a video trying to debunk some of these myths. The clip was about three minutes long, and tried to show viewers what it would be like if a murder trial was treated like most rape trials are treated. It mentioned that the character who was murdered was to blame because he was too outgoing and wore certain clothes; two common excuses often used by an assaulter, their legal team and even judges and loved ones to blame the victim of a sex crime.

Lavery discussed one of the biggest theories as to why victims are so commonly blamed: that the victim could’ve stopped the assault.

“At the time prior [victims] thought they could get out…but when it was happening, they couldn’t,” Lavery said.

She described the experience of a rape victim as someone who is having an out of body experience.

“Victims feel like they left their body and were watching from far away,” she said.

The mind has certain defense mechanisms it uses when dealing with extreme pain and trauma. A rape victim is often incapable of accepting the violation that’s being done to them, so their mind separates them from the situation. The actual sex isn’t what creates this trauma, it’s the violence.

According to Lavery, sex crimes aren’t about sex, but about “power and control.” She explained that violators use rape to dominate another person and make them feel like they have dominance over them. It’s not about having sex but really about having complete control over another person using violence and “psychological terrorism.” Psychological terrorism can be a threat to the victim’s physical life, or even their social life.

Brock Turner’s victim wasn’t aware of the violence or violation being done to her as she was unconscious.

When Turner’s father described his son’s crime as “action,” he sexualized the rape, according to Lavery. He made the rape sound consensual and nonviolent, but Turner wasn’t looking for pleasure, he was looking for power.

Lavery discussed how Turner took control of another person’s closest belonging: their body. And the severity of the not only physical, but mental state he put her in is evident in the opening sentence of her letter to the judge of this case, the judge that sentenced Turner to six months in prison.

Turner was out of jail after a week and half for good behavior. He plans on having assemblies at colleges about the issues drinking at school can cause for men accused for a sex crime against another person.

Lavery warned students how dangerous it was, that it is almost “socialized to accept rape culture and this behavior.” She explained the “mixed messages” associated with rape culture and “the lack of education on what the elements of rape are.”

It’s important for students to stay together when they go out, make sure there is open communication between friends about plans for the remainder of the night. Perhaps even more important is encouraging those who see something getting dangerous to speak up, and those who have gone through this terrible experience to speak out.

For tactics on rape prevention on campus, and for further information from this assembly as well as future events on this subject, please contact Kosack or Lavery.