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Topic: Judge calls rape victim 'stupid'

jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 13 December 2007 07:06 AM

Judge calls rape victim stupid

quote:
To have a judge refer to the victim of a vicious rape as stupid is a disservice of the highest degree, the Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse said yesterday.
The comments from CCASA executive director Deb Tomlinson come a day after Justice John Rooke called the victim of a sexual attack "naive" and "stupid."
"I think by making these comments, this judge is doing a disservice to all of society," said Tomlinson.
"By pointing the finger at the victim, and not at the offender where it belongs ... it is going to keep more women from coming forward and reporting these crimes."
Rooke sentenced Stefano Priolo, 30, to 31/2 years in prison Tuesday for raping a then-18-year-old woman in a cemetery on Nov. 28, 2005.

From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006 | IP: Logged

remind
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6289

posted 13 December 2007 07:59 AM

I would like to say "unfuckingbelievable", unfortunately it is all too believable.

From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004 | IP: Logged

N.Beltov
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4140

posted 13 December 2007 08:09 AM

Judges in the Manitoba Court of Appeal have made even worse remarks from the Bench. If these sorts of remarks were more fully reported by the mass media, then it would be a lot more clear to a lot more people that the battle for women's equality is a long way from over and needs to be strengthened.

From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003 | IP: Logged

martin dufresne
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11463

posted 13 December 2007 09:14 AM

I passed this on to a Quebec feminist list but... between you and me, blaming judges and journalists is kind of incidental to acknowledging a rape-ist culture and men getting their jollies. As if the system was functional and we just had to get judicial personnel and the media in line.
(Of course, I am glad that the perp got sanctioned... even if "Jail is No Solution")

From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005 | IP: Logged

Summer
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12491

posted 13 December 2007 09:57 AM

Um, judges are part of the system. They are also presumed to be intelligent, well-versed in the laws of the land and rational decision makers. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hold a judge to a higher standard than the average person. So when we have a judge making sexist blame the victim remarks that propagate a culture of rape and violence against women, it is evidence that the “system” is severely broken. If our judges don’t get it and their sexist remarks are merely “incidental” to the larger problem, what hope is there for the masses?

From: Ottawa | Registered: Apr 2006 | IP: Logged

martin dufresne
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11463

posted 13 December 2007 08:55 PM

Another interpretation is that this is evidence that the system is working, but not to hold rapists accountable...
If so, judges' putdowns of assaulted women are not "incidental" but representative, and the masses' hope may well lie in a radical challenge to this system (rather than well-intentioned puzzlement as what may explain such bixarre shenanigans by well-educated people presumed to know better).

From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005 | IP: Logged

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