Via Feministing, here comes yet another story to add to the “women being blamed in court for the actions of their rapists” pile. A Canadian judge has called called a rape victim “stupid” during the sentencing of the man who raped her.
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.
In his ruling, Rooke slammed Priolo as “a predator” who took advantage of a vulnerable young woman after she got into his car on the promise he would drive her to a bus depot.
The judge should have chosen his words about the victim more carefully, said Tomlinson.
I located the Judge’s original comments — and his really disturbing rationale for the sentence.
Comparing him to a vulture pouncing on a mouse, a Calgary judge yesterday sentenced a man who raped his victim in a cemetery to 31/2 years in prison.
“He has sexual intercourse with her … without her consent, in, of all places, a cemetery,” Justice John Rooke said of Stefano Priolo.
“Which shows the indignity he has towards her and the people buried in the cemetery.”
Rooke, who last week convicted Priolo, 30, of sexually assaulting his then-18-year-old victim, noted he took advantage of a “stupid” and “naive” young woman.
“It’s the stupid people who need protection,” he said, in finding a serious sentence was warranted. “You can’t come across a person who’s vulnerable and lead them, literally, off into the woods and sexually assault them.
“This offender was a predator. Like a vulture who pounces on a mouse, this predator pounced on a young girl, a young woman.”
So not only is the victim “stupid,” the judge sentenced Priolo, to 3 1/2 years in jail because his victim was a “stupid” woman. I guess that raping women the judge deems to be intelligent isn’t such a big deal? Also, she was helpless, like a mouse — if she was helpless like, say, a bunny, that’s a whole different story, I presume. Oh, and the rapist insulted the dead people in the cemetery. But, despite how horrible this “vulture” who rapes “stupid” women he meets at the side of the road is, the judge still didn’t see fit to give him the five-year sentence sought by the prosecution.
Going back to Tomlinson’s comments that “the judge should have chosen his words about the victim more carefully,” I see that her efforts are noble but have to respectfully disagree with her. Firstly, I don’t see why sentencing of a rapist would be an appropriate time to make comments about the victim, except maybe to recount her statements. Secondly this isn’t a case of a judge choosing his words poorly, it’s a case of a judge being a misogynist asshole. He seemingly sentences rapists based on how helpless he thinks the victim was rather than the fact that sexual assault is a crime against anyone and deserves to be punished. To him, the severity of rape is apparently not based upon the severity of violence or level of power abuse, but on the actions and nature of the victim.
It’s quite the impressive simultaneous display paternalism and victim-blaming. — The crime is horrible because the woman was supposedly so very helpless and stupid, but it’s still her fault because smart women don’t put themselves in situations where they might be raped. Now that’s logic.
It makes me wonder: where all of the folks who believe that rape culture and institutionalized victim-blaming don’t exist go when stories like these end up in the news?
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To go along with this and the story about the 10 year old gang-raped — an alleged (well, now-convicted) child pornographer & rapist claims the children in the videos “set [him] up.” Luckily, no one believed him — but the fact that he even thought it was *worth a shot* to blame CHILDREN for their exploitation is a symptom of our culture’s views on rape.
Additionally, Mortality refutes a comment left on her post about her rape.
Boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Gotta love the judge’s compassion and communication skills don’t ya?
Not.
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