Peru Judges Acquit Rapist, Says Victim's Red Underwear Suggests She Was Asking For It

By Samantha in News On 11th November 2020
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When a victim is blamed for the crime then it shows that everything is wrong in our society.


As bizarre and outrageous it sounds, it is normal around the world that in sexual harassment cases, women are often blamed for the harassment they face with men suggesting that it must their attire or their actions that suggested that woman was asking for it. 


 

A living example of this pathetic is here where in Peru judges acquitted a rapist. The three judges at the South Zone Transitory Supraprovincial Collegiate Criminal Court were at the heart of this unbelievable decision. They said that the woman could not have possibly been raped because her red underwear, which she wore to a party, suggested that she was wanting to have sex. As you can imagine, the country is up in arms over this decision, as they were, in fact, saying that she was ‘prepared or willing’ to have sex with the defendant. They also say that she was not as shy as she claims to be, and her choice of underwear proved it.

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As reported by DailyMail, the accused rapist was a 22-year old man and the victim was a 20-year old woman. 


Their identities were not released. It appears that it happened in January of last year after the woman became unconscious at the party. The accused had accompanied her but the next thing she remembers is waking up in bed with him the next morning.

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The woman accused the man of raping her but all he had to say was that it was an act of revenge on his behalf.


Judges Ronald Anayhuaman Andia, Diana Jurado Espino, and Lucy Castro Chacaltana said that the woman had misrepresented herself because she was wearing red underwear and that showed she was willing to have sex. “The supposed personality represented by her [the victim] (shy) does not relate to the undergarment she used on the day of the incident as this type of women’s underwear is normally used on special occasions leading to moments of intimacy, which gives the impression that the woman prepared or willing to have sexual relations with the accused,” they said 

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As expected, people were enraged over this unfair judgment, and women in Peru took to the streets to protest. Some were wearing red underwear around their legs and others held up signs, reading: “Listen up, judges. Don’t use my underwear to justify rape.” They also chanted the lyrics from ‘A Rapist in Your Path’, which references how the legal system is protecting rapists.

The decision was also condemned by Peru’s Public Ministry, saying they wanted the ruling nullified. The Control Office of Judiciary (OCMA) also launched an investigation into possible misconduct by the judges.


Peru’s Ministry of Women says that they profoundly reject the argument that the court put forth because it contained far too many stereotypes. “The eradication and punishment of violence against women can only be possible with an impartial Judicial Power that is aware of its fundamental role in order to eradicate rape and discrimination based on gender,” it said