Skandalurteil aus Philadelphia, U.S.A.:
"Eine SexarbeiterIn kann kein Vergewaltigungsopfer sein,
da sie ja ihr Einverständnis für Sex gegen Geld gegeben hat."
When is a rape not a rape?
When the victim is a sex worker!
Did you know that in Philadelphia forcing a sex worker to have unprotected sex with multiple partners at gunpoint and without consent is not considered rape? That’s right, Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni decided that based upon her occupation, the victim, a 20-year-old single mother, had consented to any and all brutality unleashed upon her.
When asked whether she considered rape to be a traumatic event, Deni stated that this case “minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped."
In what reality is forcible unprotected sex by multiple people not rape? In what reality is it okay for a municipal court judge to free a violent rapist because of the judge’s contempt for the victim’s occupation?
On November 6, 2007 help tell Judge Carr Deni that determining
a case of rape is not dependant upon the victim’s character, social standing, or occupation. Rape is rape and no means no.
Vote NO on Deni’s retention with the Municipal Court of Philadelphia.
Spread the word!
No means no, vote NO on retaining
Municipal Court Judge Teresa Carr Deni!
Interested in taking action against Judge Carr Deni?
Contact Matilda
mazzidly ät gmail.com.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 12, 2007
Hooker raped and robbed - by justice system?
by Jill Porter
A DEFENDANT accused of forcing a prostitute at gunpoint to have sex with him and three other men got lucky, so to speak, last week.
A Philadelphia judge dropped all sex and assault charges at his preliminary hearing.
Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni instead held the defendant on the bizarre charge of armed robbery for - get this - "theft of services."
Unbelievable.
Deni told me she based her decision on the fact that the prostitute consented to have sex with the defendant.
"She consented and she didn't get paid . . . I thought it was a robbery."
The prostitute, a 20-year-old single mother, agreed to $150 for an hour of oral and vaginal sex on Sept. 20, according to assistant district attorney Rich DeSipio. The arrangements were made through her posting on Craigslist.
She met the defendant, Dominique Gindraw, 19, at what she thought was his house, but which turned out to be an abandoned property in North Philadelphia.
He asked if she'd have sex with his friend, too, and she agreed for another $100.
The friend showed up without money, the gun was pulled and more men arrived.
When a fifth man arrived and was invited to join, DeSipio said, he asked why the girl was crying - and declined. He helped her get dressed so she could leave.
It's true the prostitute negotiated sex with the defendant - but not unprotected gang sex at gunpoint.
"The Legislature has defined sex by force as rape," said DeSipio, accusing the judge of "rewriting her own laws."
DeSipio said Judge Deni's ruling was based, not on the law, but on moral contempt.
"Certainly if a jury wants to make that judgment, they're entitled to. But for a judge to make a judgment on a human being - I've never seen that before."
Deni did seem contemptuous of the victim:
"Did she tell you she had another client before she went to report it?" Deni asked me yesterday when we met at a coffee shop.
"I thought rape was a terrible trauma."
A case like this, she said - to my astonishment - "minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped."
The defendant was charged in an identical incident involving a 23-year-old woman four days later, DeSipio said.
Neither woman knew the other and both told identical stories. The other men involved in the attack couldn't be identified.
DeSipio was so stunned by Deni's ruling in the first case that he refused to present the second one.
"I wouldn't demean her that way," he said of the second victim, calling the proceedings "a farce."
Judge Deni then threw out the second case for failure to prosecute.
Police Detective Jack Ryan, who investigated the incidents, said the victims in the two cases "were in fear for their lives. Since they saw one of the doers really well, it crossed both of their minds that they'd be killed."
Deni's decision to drop the sex charges is " frankly, appalling," he said.
Deni acknowledged that her ruling and remarks would be controversial.
"I know I'm going to get killed on this."
But she said she has to "sleep at night with what I decide."
And on the night of Oct. 4, when she ruled in the preliminary hearing of this case?
"I slept well."
Certainly the victims don't inspire much sympathy.
Why waste taxpayers' money for what some people consider an occupational hazard?
There are enough sympathetic victims without wasting time on prostitutes who ask for trouble, right?
But crimes are prosecuted not out of sympathy for victims, but to maintain the rule of law in a civilized society, to punish a
criminal and prevent further crime.
I like Deni, but reducing rape to theft of services?
It's an insult. And it's more evidence of the skepticism and contempt most rape victims - prostitutes or not - confront when they seek justice in court.
DeSipio said he'll file to reinstate the charges in both cases right away - before a different judge, of course.
Hopefully, the next judge will be better able to differentiate between a violated business agreement and a violent attack.
Quelle
E-mail porterj ät phillynews.com or call 215-854-5850. For recent columns:
http://go.philly.com/porter
A woman was gang raped at gunpoint and Judge Deni stated that this case "minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped." because the woman who was raped worked in the sex industry.
So she let the guy go and he orchestrated another gang rape four days later. You can read more about it from the attached articles and the websites I've listed below. Please help fight this, as it is absolutely disgusting and appalling that any judge could act so callously under the law!
If you'd like to call and tell Judge Deni that you think her ruling
and complete disregard for women is appalling, here's where she can be reached!!! 215.683.7223
UPDATE: Thanks to Caitlai n in comments for the link to the
Philadelphia Bar Association, which is recommending that this judge be retained.
You can email their chairman, Kenneth Shear, and let him know
(politely) why you think the PBA should revisit their recommendation.
(by going to the website listed below):
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2 ... f-services
www.philadelphiabar.org/page/CurrentRat ... cUBUZTfb5w
Rape is NOT an Occupational Hazard!
Sex Workers Join Women's Groups and Sexual Assault Survivors' Groups to Urge PA Voters to Vote 'No' on the Retention of Judge Teresa Carr Deni
Judge Teresa Carr Deni spawned outrage from all directions after ruling on October 4th that a sex worker that was raped at gunpoint by multiple men was NOT sexually assaulted, rather she was just robbed. Deni commented in an Oct. 12th interview that this case "minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped."
Grassroots activists around the country, including nationwide sex worker-led organizations such as the Desiree Alliance and regional advocacy groups from coast to coast responded with anger and disgust for Deni's disregard of the basic human rights of the rape victim in this case. "Deni's decision in this case sends a message that sex workers can be targeted for violence with impunity. Rape of sex workers is common, alarmingly under-reported, and rarely taken seriously by authorities," Kitten Infinite of Sex Workers' Outreach Project said. "Violence against sex workers is perpetuated by the state through discriminatory laws and judicial rulings such as this."
Sex workers in the US and abroad are organizing and becoming more vocal about the violence and discrimination that they face. "Because prostitution is criminalized, our human rights and our boundaries are clearly not respected," Mariko Passion, a board member from the Desiree Alliance commented, she continues, "…forcing or manipulating sexual intercourse by fraud, fear or coercion is rape." On Oct 30th, after considerable pressure from sex workers and feminists around the country, the PA Bar Association issued a statement condemning Deni's action, stating that, "The victim has been brutalized twice in this case: first by the assailants, and now by the court."
The Desiree Alliance applauds Association Chancellor Jane Dalton's review of the matter and we find some satisfaction in the fact that the District Attorney's office has re-filed rape charges against the perpetrator of this despicable crime. However, we still call on voters to vote 'No' on retaining Deni in the election on November 6th. The Desiree Alliance will hold a virtual press conference and rally on Monday, November 5th at 5pm Eastern for sex workers and allies to comment publicly about this case and how to prevent further discrimination against sex workers.
Who: Desiree Alliance and Affiliates
What: "Rape is NOT an Occupational Hazard!" Virtual rally
Why: Judge Teresa Carr Deni should not be retained as a Municipal Court Judge in Philadelphia
When: Monday, November 5, 2007 5pm Eastern, 2pm Pacific
Where:
www.boundNotGagged.com
Philly Judge Criticized for Rape Decision
Judge Dismissed Rape Charges Against Man Accused of
Forcing Prostitute to Have Sex
By SCOTT MICHELS
Oct. 31, 2007 —
A judge in Philadelphia has come under fire for a
controversial ruling in which she reduced charges so
that a man accused of raping a prostitute at gunpoint
faced only robbery charges for "theft of services."
Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni earlier this month
dismissed rape and sexual assault charges against
Dominique Gindraw, who is accused of forcing a
prostitute at gunpoint to have sex with him and
several other men. Deni left intact charges of armed
robbery for theft of services against Gindraw.
Prosecuting Gindraw for rape, the judge said in a
subsequent newspaper interview "minimizes true rape
cases and demeans women who are really raped."
The decision and Deni's subsequent comments to a
local newspaper prompted about 40 complaints from
around the country to the local bar association, said
executive director Ken Shear, as well as a campaign by
women's groups to encourage people to vote against
Deni when she is up for reelection Tuesday
The Philadelphia Bar Association this week took the
unusual step of publicly criticizing the ruling.
"I am personally offended by this unforgivable
miscarriage of justice," said bar association
chancellor Jane Dalton. "The victim has been
brutalized twice in this case: first by the
assailants, and now by the court."
"A victim is a victim regardless of how they come to
be in that position," Dalton told ABC News.
Deni did not immediately return a message for comment
left this morning.
Her lawyer, George Bochetto, said Deni "makes
decisions based on the evidence presented in a court
of law, not newspaper accounts of the story. She finds
the chancellor's comments to be regrettable."
The accuser testified that she initially agreed to
have sex with Gindraw and a friend of his in exchange
for money, but that Gindraw refused to pay her, held a
gun to her head and forced her to have sex with
several men, according to a transcript of an Oct. 4
court hearing.
"She consented and she didn't get paid. & I thought it
was a robbery," Deni told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Prosecuting Gindraw for rape "minimizes true rape
cases and demeans women who are really raped," she
told the paper.
The bar association on Oct. 1 recommended that voters
retain Deni for another six-year term. That
recommendation came before Deni's decision in the
Gindraw case, and the commission that recommended her
retention could not be reconvened before the election,
Shear said.
Dalton said Deni's ruling misapplied the state's rape
laws.
"Her decision in this case was based on a pre-existing
bias as to when sex can be consented to, and as to
when that consent can be withdrawn, and reflects, in
my opinion, a clear disregard of the legal definition
of rape and the rule of law in this case," she said.
The reduced charges against Gindraw are still pending
in the Municipal Court, but the district attorney's
office has refiled the rape charge at a different
local court, the Court of Common Pleas, according to
The Philadelphia Inquirer.
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3801167&page=1
_________________
Nachtrag:
Juristische Fragestellung:
Kann eine Prostituierte vergewaltigt werden?
Can a Prostitute be Raped?
Sex Workers, Women and the Politics of Rape Law Reform
(Australien, England und Kanada)
Dr. Barbara Sullivan
School of Political Science and International Studies
University of Queensland
Refereed paper presented to the
Australasian Political Studies Association Conference
2003
www.utas.edu.au/government/APSA/BSullivanfinal.pdf
(22 Seiten)
Urteil in Deutschland:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=70990#70990
Urteil in der Schweiz:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=82081#82081
Urteil in Australien:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=70413#70413
Berufungsurteil aus Italien:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=78748#78748
.
