Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ROME, Feb 17, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Italy's highest court ruled Friday that the rape of a sexually experienced woman is less serious than the rape of a virgin.
The Cassation Court ruled in the case of a man found guilty of sexually assaulting his 14-year-old stepdaughter. The court found that the girl's sexual history was an extenuating circumstance, the news agency ANSA reported.
Maria Gabriella Carnieri, who runs Telefono Rosa, a helpline for women, said that sexual assaults have increased recently, especially against younger women.
"I felt I'd been kicked in the stomach, as if we'd gone back 50 years," Carnieri said. "It's inconceivable that such a crime can have a double standard of judgment depending on whether the girl is a virgin or not."
The outcry, from men as well as women, echoed the reaction to two similar court decisions. In one, the Court of Cassation found that a woman wearing tight jeans must have been willing to have sex because she would have had to help the man get her pants off. That decision was later reversed.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
