After all, the times when Franca Rame heard herself saying “Madam, have you enjoyed yourself?” are not so distant culturally. or when someone else had to feel guilty because, at the time of the rape, she was wearing a miniskirt.
A ruling from the Court of Macerata two years ago came very close. But now the conviction for sexual violence has come from the Court of Appeal of Ancona, in the sense – however – of less seriousness with a sentence of three years in prison. But let’s go in order.
What is the story of this latest shock sentence following the sexual abuse of a woman?
What happened
It was one evening in 2019 when a young (injured party) then 17-year-old from Iceland and her friend went out with two boys they had recently met. Late in the evening, the 17-year-old remained in the car with one of the boys, then 25 years old.
The young woman had accepted “to sit in the back seat and here to exchange loving effusions with him without showing any displeasure until then even though it was obvious to anyone that they had come to that place precisely for this purpose“, wrote the judges in the reasons. From there, the ordeal.
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According to the 17-year-old’s testimony, the defendant would have blocked her with a hand on her shoulder. The young woman had confided in her friends and was accompanied by a teacher to the emergency room and to file a complaint.
The sentence
According to the judges, the victim “he had not resisted in any way or called for help, he had not tried to escape, for example by opening the rear door even though he could have done so easily“. The 17-year-old, however, reiterated that she had not wanted the relationship with the accused and that she had “tried to push him away with a punch but he couldn’t move”. In the sentence, the judges decided that instead “his change of heart was not acknowledged by the accused until, perhaps, at the end of the brief relationship“.
After exchanging a few kisses and caresses, xxx was perfectly aware of yyy’s intention to have intercourse, both because he had asked her explicitly, and above all because he had taken a condom out of the glove compartment, unused as the girl had told him she was taking the pill… Any opposition expressed by the girl – certainly not before penetration due to the absence of signs of violence – i.e. the afterthought, were not accepted by yyy except, perhaps, at the end, when the girl decides to return to the residence alone on foot
In short, with the first degree sentence which said that the young woman “He had already had sexual intercourse, so he was in a position to imagine the possible developments of the situation”, there was a shocking acquittal from the Court of Macerata.
The appeal against the sentence
The public prosecutor and the civil parties appealed against the sentence, and yesterday the Ancona Court of Appeal annulled that acquittal. The lawyer, in the appeal, contested the Court’s conclusion, according to which the girl’s availability for a four-way outing, in a secluded place, necessarily implied her awareness of what would happen.
This perspective – we read in the defense document – recalls an anachronistic tendency to believe that a woman who wore a miniskirt in the evening should expect to be raped (almost as if it were contributory negligence).
In a country where there is still debate as to whether a “no” said too softly is worth as much as a scream, this latest sentence could indeed be a step forward, but the bitter taste remains in the mouth of a journey – that of the victim – marked by suffering and not being believed enough. Because, as long as rape culture continues to creep into comments and justifications, no woman will be truly free, not even to report.
We need education, empathy, listening. We need every “no” and every second thought to be recognized for what they are: an insurmountable boundary. Because no is always no, even when it comes after a yes. And as long as there is even just one woman forced to demonstrate that she didn’t “ask for it”, we won’t be able to talk about justice, but only about resistance.
