"Dear Brock Turner" Photo Series Shows Ways Women Are Blamed for Rape Culture

The "Dear Brock Turner" photo series make a powerful statement about who society blames when women are raped.

July 4, 2016

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original
Complex Original

In the wake of the Stanford rape case, where former Stanford student-athlete Brock Turner was handed a very lenient six-month jail sentence for sexual assault charges, one photographer is using her craft to demonstrate the ways women are blamed for sexual assault and rape. Yana Mazurkevich has created the "Sexual Assault Series" to send a message about where society places fault when women are raped.

Also being called the "Dear Brock Turner" series, Mazurkevich's photography project is being showcased through Current Solutions, a student-run sexual assault and gender violence awareness organization where Mazurkevich works as an in-house featured artist.

The photos are graphic and disturbing, depicting women in their underwear, splattered with paint (in some cases red paint seemingly intended to resemble blood), and holding dry erase board markers with messages such as "I should know how to protect myself" and "My skirt was too short." In some of the photos, arms coming from behind the bodies of the women cover their mouths, hold their necks, or grab their shoulders.

In a statement emailed to Complex by Current Solutions, the organization's Public Relations and Branding Director Hannah Joslin said of the project,

Regarding the project, Mazurkevich told Complex over email:

Public outrage over the Brock Turner trial ensued when Turner's father defended his actions, saying that his son should not be punished for only "20 minutes of action," and later when Turner himself gave a statement essentially blaming a culture of partying in college for his crimes.