Italy sex case dropped because woman 'did not scream'

[Tennis]

Italy's justice minister has said he will investigate after a court acquitted a man of sexually assaulting a woman because she did not scream.

The court in Turin ruled last month that the woman saying "enough" to her colleague who allegedly attacked her was not a strong enough reaction to prove she had been sexually assaulted.

The alleged victim is now facing charges for slander, reports said.

The ruling has caused outrage in the country.

"Certainly, you cannot punish the personal reaction of a woman terrified by what is happening to her," said opposition MP Annagrazia Calabria.

Justice Minister Andrea Orlando has asked ministry inspectors to begin looking into the case, which was examining incidents that took place in 2011, Ansa news agency reported.

The alleged victim, who worked in hospitals in Turin, said the defendant had forced her into sexual acts and threatened to stop providing her with work if she did not comply, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported (in Italian).

Asked why she had not reacted to the alleged assault more strongly, she told the court: "Sometimes saying no is enough but maybe I did not use the force and violence that in reality I should have used, but that is because with people who are too strong, I just freeze."

The woman had been a victim of repeated abuse as a child by her father, prosecutors said during the trial.

Acquitting the defendant, the judge said the woman had not "betrayed the emotion that a violation of her person had to inspire in her", described her account as "unlikely" and said the assault "did not exist", Corriere della Sera said.

The defendant admitted sexual encounters with the woman but said they had been consensual.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39392147

There seems to be a real proliferation of cases like this.

[Nitro Fun]

The people who acquitted him really needs to go. They shouldn't be in such positions.

[Super Kami Dende]

I'm slightly confused. Is all she said was the word "Enough"? Did she say "No" or "Stop" or anything else as well?

He's a fucking dick for forcing her into it simply so she could keep working but it seems strange they would only use that one word as her whole defense.

[Nitro Fun]

I'm slightly confused. Is all she said was the word "Enough"? Did she say "No" or "Stop" or anything else as well?

He's a fucking dick for forcing her into it simply so she could keep working but it seems strange they would only use that one word as her whole defense.

You shouldn't even have to say anything.

[alexkeren]

You shouldn't even have to say anything.

First let me state that to me she having said enough is the same thing as saying stop, it ends then and there.

But as for anyone not having to even say that, given you said yes to intercourse before it starts and during you want to stop you canNOT just hope your partner reads your mind.

Just to restate so it's clear, partner a asks partner b for sex, they're going at it but partner b wants to stop, then even with Yes means Yes parlance partner b must indicate to stop. Because the act had been consented to and Consent needs to be revoked plain and simply as this woman had actually done.

[Kalis]

He said, she said cases are difficult to prove, judge felt there was not enough to convict.

That being said, the Italian legal system is a nightmare. I think it was designed by an angry drunken chimpanzee.

[Super Kami Dende]

You shouldn't even have to say anything.

Wut. So silence implies non-consent? The amount of times I've been in intimate position where either me or the other party has made an advance and either of us has just gone with it is numerous. Yet anytime someone has said No or rejected the advance both sides have stopped instantly.

Seems a strange thing to say.

[dvaz]

He said. She Said. 0 Proof.

Next.

[callipygoustp]

Fuck, does this mean when I make a woman scream she can charge me with rape after wards? Scary!

[Firatha]

Wut. So silence implies non-consent? The amount of times I've been in intimate position where either me or the other party has made an advance and either of us has just gone with it is numerous. Yet anytime someone has said No or rejected the advance both sides have stopped instantly.

Seems a strange thing to say.

It todays world unless you have a affidavit confirming consent its rape where have you been.

[Tennis]

He said. She Said. 0 Proof.

Next.

If she said enough, shouldn't he have stopped?

[dvaz]

If she said enough, shouldn't he have stopped?

If.

Again. She said. 0 proof.

Next.

[Super Kami Dende]

It todays world unless you have a affidavit confirming consent its rape where have you been.

Reality I guess.

[Blade Wolf]

If all they had was a she said, he said situation. Of course it wouldn't hold up in the court with no evidence to back up her claim.

[lewdest]

It todays world unless you have a affidavit confirming consent its rape where have you been.

That doesn't even work, sadly enough. Even with a signed affidavit conforming consent, you can be charged if the woman is under the influence of alcohol, even if the man is also under the influence of alcohol. Consent can also be revoked during the act. Just avoid sex all together, it's not worth risking your life. Sex robots will be here soon, and women will become obsolete.

[Hotmail]

It's really sad how this thread is already taking the direction of mansplaining.

[GennGreymane]

This thread is going places.