--- description: He wrote an open letter to the victim on Thursday title: Vice President Joe Biden on 'Warrior' Stanford Rape Victim image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91e3ee263cb6662f/69889741656a3fedcebcbdf2/stanford-rape-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Joe Biden Hails Stanford Rape Victim as a 'Warrior with a Solid Steel Spine' by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2016 11:58 AM CUT  Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 19th Annual HRC National Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on October 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 19th Annual HRC National Dinner at Walter E. Washington Convention Center on October 3, 2015 in Washington, DC.Leigh Vogel—Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2016 11:58 AM CUT Vice President Joe Biden penned an open letter to the Stanford rape victim calling her “a warrior — with a solid steel spine,” saying that he is “filled with furious anger” over the [unusually lenient sentence](http://time.com/4359265/stanford-brock-allen-turner-judge-recall/ "undefined") given to the man who sexually assaulted her. In his letter, which was published on [_Buzzfeed_ on Thursday](https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/joe-biden-writes-an-open-letter-to-stanford-survivor?bftwnews&utm%5Fterm=.ccmY87E3r#.cjrKZVvnW "undefined"), Biden condemned the sexual assault—where Stanford student, Brock Turner, 20, was found on top of an unconscious woman on campus— and a “broken” culture. “I do not know your name — but your words are forever seared on my soul. Words that should be required reading for men and women of all ages” Biden wrote [of the statement](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/08/us/stanford-rape-victim-statement.html "undefined") the 23-year-old woman read in court during a sentencing hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court last week. The former Stanford swimmer’s six-month jail sentence for the Jan. 2015 sexual assault has caused a national outcry. This has been compounded by a [letter written by Turner’s father](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/06/a-steep-price-to-pay-for-20-minutes-of-action-dad-defends-stanford-sex-offender/ "undefined"), which has been criticized for diminishing the significance of rape. Biden wrote the 1994 Violence Against Women Act and is involved in the White House’s campaign against sexual assault on campus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4363994/biden-stanford-rape-warrior-steel-spine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4363994/biden-stanford-rape-warrior-steel-spine/"},"headline":"Joe Biden Hails Stanford Rape Victim as a 'Warrior with a Solid Steel Spine'","datePublished":"2016-06-10T11:58:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:31:00.716Z","description":"He wrote an open letter to the victim on Thursday","url":"https://time.com/4363994/biden-stanford-rape-warrior-steel-spine/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91e3ee263cb6662f/69889741656a3fedcebcbdf2/stanford-rape-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91e3ee263cb6662f/69889741656a3fedcebcbdf2/stanford-rape-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 19th Annual HRC National Dinner at Walter E. 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