Brock Turner, the former Stanford student convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman by a dumpster, left jail Friday after serving half of his six month sentence.
Due in part to his victim's fierce and powerful statement on the case, Turner became yet another symbol of relative impunity even after being convicted. "I want the judge to know that he ignited a tiny fire," the victim told Buzzfeed when her letter was published on the site.
It can seem like every few months, the country rediscovers the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, whether it's through documentaries like "The Hunting Ground," since-retracted articles in Rolling Stone, or Turner's case, NBC News reports.
Activists working on the ground to change policy say each headline helps build momentum, whether it's in campus systems or criminal ones. Fatima Goss Graves, senior vice president at the National Women's Law Center, said "It continues to hold schools and policymakers accountable."