The recalling of Aaron Persky, the judge who leniently sentenced the Stanford rapist Brock Turner, has restored my faith in American democracy

Persky did not just mishandle the 2016 Brock Turner case. Persky has a pattern of making bad decisions that protect dangerous men – especially athletes

Judge Persky has been recalled after the people of Santa Clara County voted in favour (AP)

We just witnessed a huge moment in history. Last night, the people of Santa Clara County, California voted to recall Judge Aaron Persky. This result is an enormous victory for women’s rights, victims of sexual assault and American democracy. By recalling Persky, we’re sending a message that the fight to recall rape culture is real and the people will not be ignored.

I strongly supported the #RecallPersky campaign because I believe we deserve judges who will do better. In 2016, a jury found Brock Turner, a Stanford University student and star athlete, guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault. Judge Persky sentenced Turner to six months in prison (of which Turner only served three) and three years’ probation based on the recommendation from the probation department. This is the main point that anti-recallers hung their hat on.

Persky and his supporters say he followed the "rule of law," which sounds like he had no other choice but to give Turner a weak sentence. That language is intentional. All it really means is that Persky didn't break any laws. However, since when does one have to commit an illegal act in order to get fired? A good judge would have said "thank you for your recommendation” and then given Turner a sentence fitting to his heinous crimes. By the decision of his constituents last night, Judge Persky failed to exercise good judgment, which is literally in his job title, and he was removed from the bench.

The probation department’s recommendation was partially due to Turner being a first time offender, which infuriates me. Are all men allowed to rape one woman each before they are properly punished? The notion that rapists and sexual predators should get a freebie is appalling. These types of recommendations and sentences tell victims (who are mostly female) that the violations against them are not serious crimes.

The recommendation was also partially due to prison overcrowding. While I am a huge supporter of solving America’s over-incarceration problem, let’s be real. Our prisons are not full of rich, white men, so the Turner case is not one on which to argue the overcrowding issue. Perhaps if we matched sentences to the defendants’ crimes instead of to their skin colour, ethnicity, gender or bank account balance, we may not have an overcrowding problem. With that logic, those claiming over-incarceration as a justification for Turner’s light sentence should actually be in favour of Persky’s recall.

Persky did not just mishandle the 2016 Brock Turner case. Persky has a pattern of making bad decisions that protect dangerous men – especially athletes. More than once, he customised football players’ sentences around their game schedules as to not hurt their careers after they were found guilty of sexual assault, domestic violence and other violent crimes against women.

Persky also gave a man convicted of child pornography just four days in jail, even though he possessed dozens of disgusting photos, including ones of a baby being raped.

In one domestic violence case in which Persky accepted the defendant’s plea deal of a few days of “weekend jail,” his victim asked the court, “When I get beaten, can I ask for a better offer? Can I ask for a discount beating?" Persky handed down this sentence moments before sentencing Turner. You can read more about Persky's other cases here.

I hope this recall represents the beginning of the end of rape culture, in which men feel entitled to women’s bodies. I hope other judges and elected officials realise they do not have absolute power and that the people they serve feel empowered to hold them accountable. I hope more judges will use their heads, follow their hearts and use the power of the bench to help create a society in which we can all feel safe.

I hope this leads to more violent men being held accountable for their crimes against women and that they are so scared about what the court will do to them that they never hurt anyone. I hope lawmakers now understand that #timesup is the people giving notice and not just a hashtag. I hope victims of rape and sexual assault feel emboldened to come forward, and I hope their bravery is met with justice.

In the wave of the #MeToo movement, Persky’s recall is another example of women coming into their own power and voices. Although there are too many Perskys in this world, and the battle is far from won, this recall has begun to renew my faith in democracy and the power of the people. After the mockery that was the 2016 US presidential election, we really needed that. Now let’s keep making #herstory.