Madrid: The magistrate in Basque country in Spain is accused of ‘offensive questioning” for a rape victim when she was describing how she was sexually and physically abused.
The judge allegedly asked a rape victim whether she had tried “closing her legs” when she was raped.
According to the Independent In response to the judge’s remarks on the rape victim, a group of victims of gender crime, the Clara Camoamor Association has claimed that his remarks showed a clear prejudice towards disbelieving the victim.
“She showed obvious disbelief of the testimony of the victim, questioned her without allowing her to answer, asking leading and offensive questions,” Blance Estrella Ruiz of the Clara Campoamor Association said, according to The Local.
The unnamed woman arrived at her local police station in Vitoria to make a complaint that a man repeatedly abused her sexually and physically.
When she made a statement, the judge reportedly asked her: “Did you close your legs and all your female organs?” Ms Ruiz, whose group is now seeking for the judge to be suspended, said the incident was not the first time that the judge had appeared to make light of a victim’s allegations.
“Such questions are not only unnecessary to the investigation but are completely offensive and violate the dignity of the victim,” she said, according to The Local.
“Unfortunately this is not an isolated act but such behaviour [by this judge] is habitual and continuous.” Spain has one of the lowest rates of victim assault in Europe, yet the problem remains serious with one in five women believed to be victims of assault.
