Stacey Rambold, a 54-year old teacher who was convicted of raping his 14-year-old student, was recently released after completing his 30-day sentence. After his arrest in 2007, his victim, Cherice Moralez committed suicide in 2010. This was only weeks shy of her 17^th birthday. The nation was outraged at the leniency of Rambold’s sentence, and at the judge’s comments after handing down just a month of prison to a monster, who preyed on a defenseless victim and suffered enough pain and humiliation to kill herself afterwards:

“Moralez seemed older than her chronological age, and was in as much control of the situation as he was.”

-Judge G. Todd Baugh

Thousands are signing petitions demanding for his termination, but I, for one, am not surprised that he said this. Judge Baugh is merely a product of America’s rape culture. A rape culture, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, is a society that excuses rape. How many times has someone confessed to being a rape victim and then being blamed because somehow it was his or her fault? This, to me, is mind-boggling. The exact definition of rape is “the crime of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse without their consent and against their will.” Now, with the phrases “forcing,” “without their consent,” and “against their will,” how can someone ask to be raped? If they were asking for it, literally, then that would be consensual, and therefore not fulfill the criteria for rape.

A rape culture also excuses sexual harassment. This needs no further explanation. Who reports sexual harassment these days and has their case won? Hardly anyone. Everyone is scared to report it or they fear further repercussions from their abuser. And, furthermore, when they do report it, because of rape culture, the victim was apparently asking for that as well. The definition of sexual harassment is, “Harassment involving the making of unwanted sexual advances or obscene remarks.”

Moreover, a rape culture also does not think of rape as a major issue. Even though it happens every two minutes in this country, the only women’s issue being talked about in Congress currently is abortion. Even India, a country where the rape statistics are shocking, recently sentenced four men to death for the brutal rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman. They recognize the problem. But in America, it seems to me as if too many rapists get off, while their victims are left to suffer a life of psychological trauma, and some families are left to suffer the victims’ suicides.

What is the cause of rape culture? Did gender inequality, when formerly more prevalent, make some believe they have the right to others’ bodies? Is it certain films, which promote rape? Feminist activists have been criticized widely for their studies and theories, and I have heard of no male organization helping them out. Let’s look on the bright side. The world is steadily growing more and more liberal with the passage of time. Eventually, everyone will realize that they can’t just rape or sexually harass, although why anyone would think that is beyond me. And when they do, they should act in the manner of Richard A. Clarke.

Richard A. Clarke was a counterterrorism advisor to George W. Bush. In 2004, at the end of his testimony at the 9/11 Commission, he said this, “To the loved ones of the victims of 9/11, to them who are here in this room, to those who are watching on television, your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And I failed you. We tried hard, but that doesn’t matter because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness.”

Those who promote rape culture should apologize for subjecting women everywhere to this cruelty, and for failing them by not treating them as equals. Judge Baugh should apologize for failing the state of Montana by giving Rambold only 30 days in jail, leaving him to walk free and possibly rape another innocent girl a third of his age. He should apologize to women everywhere for making them even more aware of the fact that rape culture exists. Baugh should apologize to Auliea Hanlon, Moralez’s mother, for not serving justice to the cause of her daughter’s suicide, and not giving her closure for her pain that will continue the rest of her life. Out of everyone whom he failed, G. Todd Baugh failed Cherice Moralez the most, and if that fraction of a human being sitting on the bench for Billings, Montana, had a conscience, he would live with this fact forever.