성폭행 판결에 위니펙 시민 분노 표출
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문제가 된 성폭행 사건에 대하여 간단히 요약하면,
2006년 한 여성이 톰슨(Thompson)에서 한 남자에게 호수옆 숲속에서 성폭행을 당했고 이를 신고했습니다. 그리고 지난 주에 톰슨 법정에서 판결이 났는데, 성폭행 당한 여자는 술집 밖에서 한 남자(당시 톰슨시 직원)를 만났는데, 그 때 어깨끈이 없는 튜브탑(Tube Top)에 브라도 착용하지 않았고 하이힐도 신었고 화장도 많이 하였고, 수영복도 없는데 남자에게 호수로 밤 중에 수영하러 가자고 했기때문에 남자가 오판을 하고 숲속에서 여자의 의도와는 다르게 'No'를 했는데도 불구하고 성폭행을 했다는 것이었습니다. 한마디로 여자가 성폭행 분위기를 만들었고 처신을 잘 못 했기때문에 어쩔 수 없이 남자도 분위기에 이끌려 성폭행을 했다는 얘기입니다. 그리고 성폭행범에게 감옥에 보내는 대신 2년간 조건부로 집행유예(?)를 선고했습니다.
지난 주에 이 판결이 나고 어제 신문에 관련 기사가 실리면서 위니펙 프리 프레스 등 각종 미디어의 게시판에 법원의 판결에 찬성하는 사람들과 반대하는 사람들이 수많은 댓글을 달며 공방을 벌이고 있고, 위니펙 시민 100 여명은 매니토바주 법원건물에 몰려가서 판결을 내린 법관이 당장 사임하기를 강력하게 항의했습니다.
더 자세한 내용을 사건 내용상 이곳에 모두 한글로 번역하여 옮기에는 그렇지만, 앞으로 법으로 여성이 성폭행범으로 부터 제대로 보호를 받으려면 성폭행에 대하여 강력한 반대의사를 표현하고 옷차림도 조신[操身]하게 입는 등 조심해야 할 것으로 생각됩니다.
한국만 그런줄 알았더니 이곳에도 조금 얼빠진 판사가 있는 것 같습니다. 성폭행은 어떤 상황에서도 성폭행이라는 것이 일반적인 생각이라고 생각하는데 아닌가요?
자세한 내용은 아래 기사를 읽어보세요.
이상 CTV Winnipeg에서 요약함.
Judge's sex-assault comments spark rally
Protesters storm law courts building in Winnipeg, call for resignation of judge
CBC News
Protesters rally outside the Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg, expressing outrage at a judge's recent decision in a sexual assault case. ((Michael Fazio)) Judge's sex assault comments wrong: professor
About 100 people rallied at the Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Friday, expressing anger about comments made by a judge during a sexual assault sentencing.
Protesters call for the resignation of Justice Robert Dewar. (CBC)
They also called for Dewar to come down and speak to them before being escorted out by security.
Dewar said "sex was in the air" when he spared a man jail time by handing him a two-year conditional sentence last week instead and allowed him to remain free in the community.
During the sentencing, Dewar also commented on the way the woman was dressed and her actions the night she was forced to have sex by a man in the woods along a dark highway outside Thompson, Man., in 2006.
The man and a friend met the 26-year-old woman and her girlfriend earlier that night outside a bar under what Dewar called "inviting circumstances."
'I was appalled. I was outraged. I was disheartened.'—Lorraine Parrington, counsellorThe judge pointed out the victim and her friend were dressed in tube tops, no bras, and high heels and noted they were wearing plenty of makeup.
Dewar called the man a "clumsy Don Juan" who may have misunderstood what the victim wanted.
The sentence was delivered last week in Thompson.
Lorraine Parrington, who co-ordinates the sexual assault crisis program at Klinic, a community health centre in Winnipeg, said Dewar's remarks show there needs to be more education about how women should be treated in sexual assault cases.
In his decision, Justice Robert Dewar said the man who was convicted of sexual assault may have misunderstood what the victim wanted. (Department of Justice Canada)
Fewer than 10 per cent of sexual assault cases are actually reported and Parrington worries Dewar's comments will discourage future victims from coming forward.
"I'd like to say I was shocked. Unfortunately, I'm not after doing this work for lots of years," she said. "But I was appalled. I was outraged. I was disheartened."
Men have to learn women can change their minds, and no, at any point in an encounter, means no, she said.
"People have a right to change their mind. If I decide that I want to be engaged in certain sexual behaviour with somebody I can do that and I'm allowed to say, 'Stop, I don't want to do it any more.' That needs to be respected."
Angela Senyshyn, a burlesque dancer who was at the rally, told CBC News she dresses how she likes and there is no invitation to anything.
"I don't get dressed, you know, for a night out on the town in hopes to get raped."
With files from The Canadian Press
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Judicial body reviewing complaints against judge
WINNIPEG — A body that investigates judicial misconduct confirmed this afternoon that it will be reviewing complaints against Manitoba Queen's Bench Justice Robert Dewar.
And the province of Manitoba announced it will file a formal complaint about the federal judge with the Canadian Judicial Council.
The council, which hears complaints of judicial misconduct, confirmed today that it has already received "several" complaints about the conduct of Dewar.
Jennifer Howard, minister responsible for the status of women, said today she will undertake the action on behalf of the government.
"I feel it's important, and we as a government feel it's important, to send a message to women... who may have been a victim or may be a victim of sexual assault that they should come forward, that they should feel protected by the law...," Howard said in an interview.
in a statement released today, the judicial council said "there have been numerous media reports and public reaction to these comments."
Earlier today more than 100 women and men chanted 'Yes means yes and no means no' and called for the resignation of Dewar at a noon-hour protest in front of the Law Courts Building.
Dewar gave a convicted rapist a conditional sentence last week — instead of jail time — and suggested that the victim's attire and flirtatious behaviour were partly responsible for the attack.
One of the protest organizers, Alanna Makinson of the Canadian Federation of Students lambasted Dewar for commenting on the victim’s attire and suggesting that "sex was in the air" the evening that Kenneth Rhodes forced intercourse on a woman along a highway near Thompson in 2006.
"These statements by Judge Dewar are reinforcing the myth of implied consent and the myth that the victim of sexual assault is ultimately responsible for their own victimization," Makinson said, as the crowd shouted ‘Shame.’
"This ruling has damaged the credibility of Canada’s justice system, and we are calling for an apology for his misguided and irresponsible ruling..." she said.
Makinson said the students federation also plans to file a complaint against Dewar with the Canadian Judicial Council in the coming days.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
