At six years old I was molested by my fifteen-year-old, female babysitter, her female best friend (also fifteen,) and her best friends brother (sixteen at the time.) When the truth came out and parents got involved, the verdict came to, "They're just kids. They didn't know what they were doing." So that little chunk of history got brushed under the rug for those 'naïve kids exploring their sexuality' and I was labeled the "confused little girl who didn't understand that sometimes teenagers could make mistakes."

At eleven years old, one of the rare nights we weren't sleeping in the car or a shelter, I woke up in a motel bed to my biological, abusive, drug-addicted father slipping his hand in my pants. When the day came that I told my birth mother, the verdict came to, "It was a mistake. He thought he was touching me." So that little chunk of history got placed on a shelf with the other 'mistakes and excuses made for world-class men' and I found myself with the familiar label of "confused girl who didn't understand that sometimes grown men could make mistakes."

On my twenty first birthday, it wasn't just touching and the confused hands of teenage kids and half-passed out fathers. After I was too drunk to push off my 'date' who stood a solid thirteen inches above me, I first heard the label go from "confused girl" to "asking for it." When I came sobbing to my roommates and friends, the verdict wasn't a 'mistake' anymore. They 'knew the guy,' he wouldn't do it. It quickly shifted from "He's my boyfriend's friend," and "He's a frat brother," to "You were drunk and all over him," and "You invited him home."

This time there wasn't any more room on a shelf or under a rug. This time there was just an emptiness filled with the "it didn't happen" and the "you were too drunk to remember." So before I would let myself be labeled "the slut who was asking for it," I found myself running – dropping out of school, bailing on my lease, flying across the country to chase my dreams, and full -fledged running as fast as I could. This did not make life easier, this did not make my nightmares and demons go away, but to this day, it is still the best decision I ever made.

Now, at almost 24 years old, as I find myself scrolling through articles - I stop. Plastered everywhere is "Brock Turner, Swimmer, Released Early from 6 Month Sentence." Of the millions of things wrong with this title, if you've followed the story you know, only one sticks out to me: swimmer. Everywhere I look I see the title, "Swimmer," and it burns into me with the same disgusting sting that left "Teenagers make mistakes!" "Grown men make mistakes!" and "You were asking for it!" emblazoned across my memory.

I have now realized that this horrible push-the-blame-away cycle is never going to stop.

This terrifying, devastating, disgusting crime is world-wide, public knowledge. Brock Turner, the rapist, was caught in the act of sexually assaulting and raping a fully unconscious woman. Brock Turner, the rapist, was found 100% guilty by a judge and jury. Let me repeat: Brock Turner, the rapist, was found 100% guilty and sentenced to jail time after he was caught on top of a fully unconscious woman whom he had just sexually assaulted.

So why do I sit here with this uneasy feeling in my stomach that this is just another sexual assault case being brushed under the rug? Why do I feel as if this world-recognized case is on the same shelf as the horrible memories from my childhood and college days that make me clutch my keys tighter when I walk home alone in the dark or keep me up at night – unsure of whether I'm scared of being alone or letting someone in the bed beside me?

Why do I feel as if Brock Turner, the rapist, a now unfortunate household name, is in a glass case along with all of the names the media will never report on? The names of naïve, unaware teenagers; the names of the half-asleep, confused fathers; the names of all of the other abusers that are never reported, never arrested, and never brought to justice?

Yes, this case is public knowledge. Yes, the world knows what a disgusting, violent creature Brock Turner, the rapist, is. Yes, his life will never be the same. So that means it's not under a rug right?

Wrong.

Brock Turner, the rapist, was released after serving only three "miserable" months of his joke of a six-month sentence. (Remind yourself that this is for a crime in which the jury asked for six years and can actually carry a sentence of ten to fourteen.)

Brock Turner, the rapist, is already being labeled "swimmer" and "former Stanford swimmer" across national headlines. Brock Turner, the rapist, is already having media attention diverted away from who and what he really is.

The father of Brock Turner, the rapist, came forward and said that his son's life had been ruined over a "20-minute mistake." The friend of Brock Turner, the rapist, blamed party culture, alcohol, and the college environment on the 'mistake' his friend made. Hundreds of comments online scream that horrible "she was asking for it" and "she was drunk and didn't say no" stance that we as a country have unfortunately become accustomed to – all the while defending the 'mistake' this 'young kid' made.

All of these sources giving him all of these different titles and names – all slowly creeping away from the one he deserves.

Brock Turner, the rapist, and this horrific tragedy will eventually go on a shelf with other horrific crimes in history that "didn't turn out quite as expected." Over the years, when other tragic and mortifying incidents happen to women and children – and have the rare occurrence of being made a national headline – Brock Turner, the rapist, will be mentioned. People will look back and say, "This reminds me of that boy who raped that girl a few years back." "The swimmer?" "Oh yeah, that one. He only served three months. He was just some kid who made a mistake."

Over the years, people will remember the Stanford swimmer – the bright kid with the bright future – who was let out early because he made a mistake.

I hope that's not what we remember.

I want my generation to remember that statistics show that in a single year, almost 2 million women report incidents that are considered rape and that nearly 65,000 children are victims of sexual abuse. Remind yourself that those are only the women who come forward. Remind yourself that the child reports are only the ones that are noticed or brought forward. Remind yourself that these numbers do not include male victims who have and have not come forward.

The next time you see an article entitled "Brock Turner, Swimmer" or hear someone say "the kid who made a mistake" please correct them, if only to remind yourself that a main reason such a low amount – yes, unfortunately 2,000,000 in this case is a low amount – of rape incidents are actually reported is because society blames the victims and excuses the attackers.

The next time a news site or a loud mouthed opinion flies through the media airways claiming that this is due to party culture, college life, alcohol, or mixed signals – I hope that people remember that under no circumstance, ever, is it the victims fault. The blame of a sexual perpetrators attack is 100% the attacker, child molester, sexual offender, and rapist's fault.

I myself have been guilty of pushing the blame away. As long as we allow media and tabloids to continue labeling abusers anything but what they are, we allow victim blaming to become an all too regular event. When people remember the dutiful sons and swimmers, they start criticizing the victims and the circumstances. As long as we make excuses for attackers, we never fully come to terms with who they are.

That ends now.

The three people who molested me when I was six years old were not naïve, sexually curious teenagers who made a mistake. They were child molesters.

The drug addicted, woman and child beating, sperm-donor who stuck his hands down his daughters pants at eleven years old was not a sleepy, confused father. He is a sex offender.

Brock Turner, the guy who raped and assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, is not a dutiful son, good friend, or Stanford swimmer who made a mistake.

Brock Turner is a rapist.

This is not an opinion. This is a fact.

Meg V. Jones

itsmegnotmegan@gmail.com

Twitter: @ItsMegNotMegan