Joe Biden writes open letter to "courageous" Stanford sexual assault victim
Joe Biden penned a letter Thursday to the "courageous young woman" at the heart of the high-profile Stanford sexual assault case, praising her for the letter she wrote to her attacker and how it "helped change the culture."
"I do not know your name--but your words are forever seared on my soul. Words that should be required reading for men and women of all ages," he wrote in a letter posted by BuzzFeed News. "I am in awe of your courage for speaking out--for so clearly naming the wrongs that were done to you and so passionately asserting your equal claim to human dignity."
Earlier this week, the victim read off her own statement about the trauma of the ordeal at the sentencing of Brock Turner, the star Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious outside a fraternity party. Turner, 20 years old, was handed down a six-month sentence in county jail, along with three years' probation, for the crime.
Speaking directly to Turner at his sentencing, his victim described how the attack left her "closed off, angry," and "empty," according to the full letter published later on BuzzFeed. She chose to remain anonymous because, according to her, "for now, I am every woman."
In response, the vice president -- who spearheaded efforts to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and who is actively involved in the White House's campaign against sexual assault -- wrote of how he had been "filled with furious anger" reading the victim's words.
"You were failed by a culture on our college campuses where one in five women is sexually assaulted--year after year after year. A culture that promotes passivity. That encourages young men and women on campuses to simply turn a blind eye," Biden wrote, calling it "obscene" that the numbers of sexual assault have not gone down.
The vice president also praised the young men -- "heroes that ride bicycles" -- that helped to stop the assault from continuing.
"They did not worry about the social or safety implications of intervening, or about what their peers might think," he said. "Those two men epitomize what it means to be a responsible bystander. To do otherwise--to see an assault about to take place and do nothing to intervene--makes you part of the problem."
"It's on us. All of us," Biden continued. "We all have a responsibility to stop the scourge of violence against women once and for all. I do not know your name - but I see your unconquerable spirit."
The vice president isn't the only politician weighing in on the rape case and rallying to the victim's side.
On the House floor early Thursday, Texas Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican, called for an appeals court to overturn the "pathetic sentence" handed down by the judge in the case. Poe, who faced up to 14 years in prison, was handed down a sentence of six months. Prosecutors had initially requested a six-year term.
"The punishment for rape should be longer than a semester of college," Poe said. He later added that the judge "should be removed" from the bench for the decision.
"Justice demands the judge is removed," he said. "The defendant should receive more time in prison and we the people support and assist the victim in all possible ways."