Italian judge rules female rape victim was 'too masculine to be desirable'

British newspaper Guardian reported on Monday that the Italian Supreme Court directed the High Court in Ancona to annul the rule that was determined by three judges in 2017 to acquit the accused, ordering that a new trial will be held on two male suspects in the High Court of Perugia.

In 2016, the two suspects, both Peruvians who live in Ancona, were accused of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old Peruvian woman in 2015. Cynthia Molina, a lawyer for the victim, said that the two men met the Peruvian woman at a neighborhood bar. They put drug in the woman’s glass sexually assaulted her when she passed out, according to the lawyer. It was revealed that the level of benzodiazepine, a type of a tranquilizer, was tested high in a blood test right after the incident.

However, according to the sentencing released to the public, the High Court of Ancona ruled that the victim was “too masculine to be desirable,” thus concluding that it is hard to believe the victim’s testimony. In response, around 200 women protested in the front of the High Court of Ancona, shouting that it is unforgivable that the court took the victim’s looks as the grounds for its ruling.


Taek Kyoon Sohn sohn@donga.com