- Title: ITALY: JUDGE AT CENTRE OF RAPE STORM DEFENDS APPEAL COURT DECISION.
- Date: 13th February 1999
- Summary: ROME, ITALY (FEBRUARY 12, 1999) (RTN - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV/CU: VARIOUS OF COURT OF CASSATION BUILDING (3 SHOTS) 0.09 2. GV/CU: PRESIDENT OF THIRD SECTION OF THE COURT OF CASSATION GENNARO TRIDICO SAYING (ITALIAN) Q: Are we going back in time? Absolutely not. The whole thing has been cooked up by the newspapers....we're not at all going backwards...we are very sensitive to the problems of women. Every year we deal with between 300 and 400 cases of sexual violence against women and minors...almost all are confirmed when we are convinced that they were based on sound evidence...this was not the case!' 0.48 3. CU: TRIDICO SAYING (ITALIAN) 'The sentence verified that there was no evidence of violence or of a physical struggle. Therefore the lower court had failed to motivate its sentence so we decided it was our duty to send the case to another court'. 1.25 4. CU: TRIDICO SAYING (ITALIAN) 'Women should rest assured that the court is very sensitive to their problems but we also need to protect the rights of the accused' 1.50 5. VARIOUS: STREET SCENES AND WOMEN WEARING JEANS/ JEANS IN SHOP WINDOW (6 SHOTS) 2.23 6. CU: VOX POP (ITALIAN) 'I feel humiliated. Male opinion is once again predominant in this judgement' 2.37 7. MV: MORE OF WOMEN WEARING JEANS 2.44 8. CU: VOXPOP (ITALIAN) 'Instead of going towards 2000, we're going back to the eighteenth century!' 2.49 9. GV/CU: VARIOUS OF NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES READING 'It's just an unhappy frase. We're not chauvinist' - 'I am a progressive judge. I don't regret anything' (4 SHOTS) 3.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th February 1999 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROME, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVAB97W1LNPVKX1HBLEW0NNKM1DL
- Story Text: A judge at the centre of an appeals court verdict
declaring a woman could not have been raped because she was
wearing jeans has been defending the court ruling.Meanwhile
the controversy over the verdict is continuing to rage.
Italy's highest appeals court on Wednesday overturned a
rape conviction against a 45-year-old driving instructor
saying there was not enough evidence that he raped his
18-year-old student.
In its ruling, the court said: "It is common
knowledge...that jeans cannot even be partly removed without
the effective help of the person wearing them....and it is
impossible if the victim is struggling with all her might".
The man, who had denied rape charges, had been handed a
two year 10 month sentence at his trial.His lawyers insisted
the woman had consented to have sex with him and that there
had been no evidence of violence.
Protests have come from across Italy after the ruling, and
from judges, lawyers and politicians across the political
spectrum.
But on Friday (February 12) a judge at the centre of the
row, President of the Third Section of the the court of
Cassation, Gennaro Tridico, denied that the ruling was
backwards looking.
Explaining the reasons behind the ruling, he said there
was not enough evidence of rape so the court had to give the
accused the benefit of the doubt.
Women on the streets of Rome say they feel humiliated by
the judgement which they say indicates the legal system is
dominated by male opinion.
Six women members of parliament demonstrated in front of
the lower house of parliament building on Thursday, wearing
jeans and holding signs that read "Jeans: the alibi for rape".
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