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 4 of 10)
46. Rape is rape it dosen't matter weather was one or more she had a gun stuck to her brains, now who won't said no? my life come before any amount of money is like someone telling I have AIDS and I'm going to sex you weather you want or not. My point is that it was said "NO" and no meant just that {NO }...
GABRIEL at 12:52PM on Nov 2nd 2007
47. Prostitution is a crime, but rape is a much worse one. Rapists devestate the lives of their victims in a willful manner. How do prostitutes really harm others? Sure in some cases they may transfer a disease, but that is not done with a willful intent to cause harm.
Stephanie at 4:29PM on Nov 1st 2007
48. When did their choice of proffession make them a second-class human? Posted by Nicole. Um, um, um like since lawyers and judges and courts were invented. Why do you think attorneys try so hard to keep "priors" out of their present court case? Because they are afraid the jurors may think their client is a career(key word here is "career" in that it implies "profession") criminal and may lower the worth of their client in the jurors eyes.
Rick at 4:32PM on Nov 1st 2007
49. Oh, Mel, #4, you just hate strong women. My guess is you like your women like "The Stepford Wives." The ultimate male fantasy for a guy like Mel.
David S. at 4:34PM on Nov 1st 2007
50. In my opinion, considering that there is an open position at just about any local fast food chain, at the very least... that a woman would CHOOSE to prostitute herself is a plain fact of her immorality. She is as guilty as the men who robbed her services. I agree with the judges decision.
A woman that enters into agreements to have sex with another human being and is denied payment for her services is no different than a deli clerk that gets held up and robbed.
A woman, who for my point, is maybe a clerk or a lawyer or cashier, and is taken and forced to have sex at the threat of further physical violence is RAPED.
Basically, the prostitute put herself out there with a filthy element and set herself up for this type of abuse. I do not call it rape because had these men offered money in exchange she would have went home happy.
CM at 4:41PM on Nov 1st 2007
51. This story mixes apples and oranges for publicity and hype. Rape is an assault by force. A prostitute permits her body to be raped for money. If you add a gun into the mix, that's force and it's clearly rape. These guys didn't have enough money so they took a short cut. That's wrong even in Las Vegas.
Cecil Jones at 4:53PM on Nov 1st 2007
52. # 33 Jenny. Yes, the woman was a prostitute, and yes, it is obviously a dangerous profession, but do you actually think she had it coming to her? To be brutalized and treated as less than human? Boy, that is a pretty misogynistic attitude for a woman to have. Very unforgiving.
April at 4:59PM on Nov 1st 2007
53. She was raped. I think she should be charged with prostitution, but those "men" should without a doubt be charged with rape. They held a gun to her head and forced her to have sex with them. It is so sad that there are so many people who feel she deserved it. No matter what you profession or status is no one-male or female deserve to have a violent crime committed against them.
DH at 4:57PM on Nov 1st 2007
54. Rape is rape, pure and simple. I don't care if you're a prostitute or Miss Goody two shoes. If a guy pulls a gun, or a knife on you, or simply strongarms you and demands sex and takes it WITHOUT your consent, that's rape 100%. The lady should of had the 3 guys prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whore or not, the judge should have ruled it a rape case and gone from there. Thrown the book at 'em, added a weapons charge to the guy with the gun, and had sexual predator added to their name for the rest of their lives. God knows we got enough of 'em here for pete's sake.
Larry Cox at 5:02PM on Nov 1st 2007
55. What if this were a guy and the three other guys did that?
What if she had done the 'deed' with all three THEN they didn't pay?
What if that's what really happened... they didn't pay, she was so pissed she made up the entire 'gun' scenario?
pboyfloyd at 5:14PM on Nov 1st 2007
56. Regardless of whether she was soliciting an illegal act or not, the rape charge should stick as these men, for lack of a better word, threatened to use deadly force. As a Man I have no problem with saying this.
Everyone here knows, or should know, that there is a huge difference between consensual sex (paid or not) and non-consensual sex. I am sure if someone ordered a pizza and then robbed the delivery guy they would also be charged with a crime. Even if delivering pizza was a crime.
As to whether or not she should also be charged with a crime, that would have to be considered carefully. I am sure no jail sentence is going to be worse punishment, or provide more incentive to quit prostitution, than gang rape by three men.
Archangel at 5:17PM on Nov 1st 2007
57. What if that clerk or lawyer or cashier is also not morally perfect as you hold yourself to be. You say that the woman deserved to be raped because "that a woman would CHOOSE to prostitute herself is a plain fact of her immorality. She is as guilty as the men who robbed her services." So if that lawyer is immoral, perhaps she cheated on her husband, or lied in court to get a criminal off doesn't she also deserved to be raped because of her immorality? Somehow I doubt you would feel that way about her. A woman's body is her own, and no one has a right to take it without her permission, no matter what her morality is like. Did you ever think that maybe this woman cannot make enough money to feed herself, or maybe even her children when making minimum wage at McDonalds? Minimum wage in our state is 6.85. At 40 hours a week that comes out to 14,248.00 a year.
The poverty line for one adult and two children is 16,242.00 a year. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh06.html. When faced with prostituting yourself and watching your children starve, which choice is the right thing to do?
Stephanie at 5:20PM on Nov 1st 2007
58. lets see just how many of you have actually been through rape...im guessing not many. well I have and its not a pleasant experience. I don't wish it on anyone, but If you put yourself in a situation that is less than ideal for a woman to stay out of danger that way than Im sorry but in an essence you almost look for trouble. There are many ways to make a living and there is no excuse for any woman to have to do it that way. It shames you and lowers your standards and all in all is unhealthy so in my eyes she was raped buy could have avoided it!!!
Amy at 6:55PM on Nov 1st 2007
59. All sex outside of marriage is adultery. What does a wise Christian do to avoid the punishment due an adulterer--being cast into the Lake of Fire on Judgment Day? All adulterers must repent and ask God for forgiveness and sin no more.
I can't imagine prostitution being a viable business today with all we know about STDs and AIDS. Do people think they are immune. If God doesn't get a person to reform, sexual hygiene should.
Ronald B. Zeh at 5:21PM on Nov 1st 2007
60. Many of you are only talking about the morals of the woman selling sex. What about the men who solicited sex. It seems hipocritical not to judge them if you judge her. Not only did they solicate sex, but they raped a women at gun point and that is a violent crime. How can you possible see her as less moral then the men.
rebelblue88 at 5:36PM on Nov 1st 2007