Uh, no, it's rape. So says the bar association in a rare rebuke of a municipal judge. The judge ruled that a woman forced by a client to have sex with three other men at gunpoint should be considered just "a robbery." Salon.com's Broadsheet quotes the Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association's condemnation of the decision: "Even though the woman is a prostitute, it doesn't mean she couldn't be a victim. Once she says 'No, it's not okay,' then to have sex with her is rape."
It's amazing the judge could have thought otherwise, but she even defended the decision later to the press. According to the original AP article:Municipal Judge Teresa Carr Deni heightened the furor when she defended her decision to a newspaper. ''She consented and she didn't get paid,'' Deni told the Philadelphia Daily News. ''I thought it was a robbery.''
Deni also told the newspaper that the case ''minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped.''
Some back-story on the case from the same article:The 20-year-old woman, a single mother, testified that she worked for an escort service that advertised through the Web site Craigslist.
She went to a North Philadelphia home Sept. 20 to meet Gindraw, who had agreed to pay her $150 for sex. He then said that a friend was coming with the money and that the friend would pay her another $100 to perform sex acts.
Instead, three other men arrived, and Gindraw pulled a gun and ordered the woman to have sex with all of them, she testified.
''He said that I'm going to do this for free, and I'm not going nowhere, and I better cooperate or he was going to kill me,'' she testified at a preliminary hearing.
The article also quotes Carol Tracy, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Women's Law Project, as saying the judge's comments that the case was just "theft of services" was ''a throwback to the Middle Ages, when rape was a crime against property, not against a person.''Seriously. The implication of the decision is that prostitutes are offered less protection under the law than other women. We're relieved to see that the bar association is on the case.
Reader Comments ( Page 10 of 10)
136. Some commentors have said that the "woman should be charged for prostitution" as well as the men being charged for rape. This opinion demonstrates a profound ignorance on the part of the commentors. First of all, if the woman came forward and identified the men who raped her; for that the woman should be respected even if she has a lifestyle that we all see as reprehensible. If the woman had been legitimately arrested for prostitution versus appearing before police to file a complaint of sexual assault it would be different matter. But the fact that she went to police to report a dangerous gun-toting rapist mob is to her credit, and she should be sent to counciling not charged with a crime.
The men who raped her were no doubt counting on this woman to be afraid to come forward because she is a prostitute. The fact that she DID identify them at risk of publicly shaming herself in the process should be seen in the very least as a public service. Requiring police to charge her would lessen the chances that other victims would come forward and would simply play into the hands of violent and dangerous felons, who no doubt would continue to seek out and pray on other victims for their heinous crimes.
Many women are brutalized in our society and the mysogeny that is present in all societies, including our own as exemplified by many of the commentors and the ignorant judge who saw this as a mere theft and not the brutal act of rape is a factor that allows prostitution to flourish in our country. Unfortunately, the circumstances under which most prostitutes operate, on the fringes of society and away from public scrutiny, exposes them to the kind of violence this poor woman experienced.
Next time, when the women is found dead in dumpster perhaps, will the commentors still be calling for charging her with prostitution, or will they understand the duty of law enforcement in protecting even those at the margins of society?
tg at 3:38PM on Nov 7th 2007
137. Wow Somber, I must say I'm even more impressed with you than I was before....
....and I don't impress easily.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Your insights were fascinating.
Ventrue at 6:54PM on Nov 7th 2007
138. #134 Wayne. Let the record reflect that I have never used the word "whore" in any of my responses.
I chose no sides, nor made any judgements based upon this woman's occupation, but simply wrote some legal talking points from a "disinterested"
position.
Instead of an ad hominem attack, you could impress
me more by by pointing out which part of my observations are factually/legally incorrect.
lizard at 9:58PM on Nov 7th 2007
139. THESE MEN SHOULD BE EXPOSED AS THEY BEING EXPOSED.ITS NOT ABOUT THE PROSTITUTE OR THE MONEY.ANYONE ONE WHO HOLDS A GUN TO A WOMANS HEAD TO FORCE HER TO HAVE SEX WITH HIS FRIENDS IS CAPABLE OF DOING IT TO ANYONE. YOUR SISTER, DAUGHTER,MOTHER, GIRLFRIEND ETC.LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE.THIS MAN AND HIS FRIENDS ARE DANGERIOUS PEOPLE AND NOT JUST GUYS HAVING FUN. JOE CAPRIO CITYLIFEPRODUCTIONS
joe at 2:42PM on Nov 14th 2007