Dear California lawmakers,

I know, I know, it’s a little strange to hear from me. Rarely, our paths ever cross, with me being in Champaign, and you being 2,100 miles away. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I thought about your court system. I usually just get in, hit up Disney Land and Universal Studios and get out.

But ever since January, I’ve taken great interest in the way you conduct business, and I’ve got to say, I’m not entirely pleased.

To be clear, under all circumstances, if a victim is sexually assaulted, it’s rape. But in California, apparently, it’s only rape if the assailant impersonates the spouse of the victim and rapes that married victim. Under California law, it only counts as rape if the victim is married.

At least, that’s the law you quoted earlier this month during the case of case against Julio Morales. In 2009, he pretended to be a girl’s boyfriend at a party, and took advantage of her. However, an appellate court has overturned Morales’ conviction because of that California law.  As you said, “If the woman had been married and the man had impersonated her husband, the answer (of rape) would be yes.” 

Excuse me as I go bang my head against the concrete for the 30th time.

First of all, this is disturbing because it basically makes marriage into a twisted, unfair status symbol. Why does a marriage and a so-called higher sense of commitment protect a married woman more than a woman who is only dating someone? What about women who have been in a committed relationship for six years, or women who just don’t want to get married at all? And, because you are not a state that grants same-sex marriages anymore, what about LGBT couples?

These groups don’t deserve to be punished just because they’re without a marriage certificate.

But I think the thing that makes me want to punch the wall the most is that you are just now deciding to change this law. I was thrilled to read that Attorney General Kamala D. Harris is working to change the law, and props to him for fighting. I’m glad the Julio Morales incident opened his eyes.

But it really took over 140 years to change this? It really took a rape to shed light on this issue? Everyone should have equal protection under the law when it comes to sexual assault, and this should have been taken under consideration with past rape cases of this nature. It’s absurd this law still exists as is.

On the surface, you may wonder why this should bother me. I am, as mentioned before, over 2,000 miles away. Plus, Illinois’ law doesn’t mirror California law. When it comes to rape, there is no weird marriage clause.

However, it does bother me. It bothers me very much. One, because anytime anyone is raped, it should bother everyone. Two, because I have a couple of good friends in California, and God forbid, if anything were to happen to them, I want there to better protection than an outdated law.

But this is also a problem to me because of this categorization of rape. This was used as nothing more than a loophole out of a rape charge, and it sickens me that Morales is off the hook because of it. Sexual assault should be simply treated as sexual assault.

The fact that there is still a law like that in the United States shows that we as a society — and not just California — need to get more serious about ending our rape culture. The fact that Ohio high school football players thought that it was OK to rape a 16-year-old girl as they partied one night shows that society needs to get more serious about ending our rape culture. And the fact that a gang of men repeatedly and gruesomely raped a woman in New Delhi shows that the world needs to get more serious about ending rape culture.

We have to attack the issue of sexual assault even harder. And we as citizens can do it, as journalist Lauren Wolfe wrote for CNN, by “focusing more on the perpetrators” and engaging in more dialogue that will encourage us put an end to rape.

But we can’t do it alone. We need lawmakers and court members all over the country to stand up, take a look at what’s broken and get our ducks in order. After all, you have the power to change the law of the land. Use it. 

Tolu is a senior in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].