A young Italian man was acquitted of
rape on appeal Thursday after a Turin judge ruled that his
alleged victim's leaving her door open was "an inducement to
dare".
The judge ruled that the girl, "high after an excessive use of
alcohol caused the young man to approach".
The pair went to the toilet of a central Turin pub together in
May 2019 and she left the door ajar, "behaviour which was an
invitation to dare" on the young man's part.
She also had a broken zip fastening in her jeans, "but this was
old and worn out and does not prove that it was torn when she
was disrobed", said the judge.
The appeals sentence, which overturned an over two-year
first-instance conviction for rape, was roundly condemned by
politicians and women's groups.
League MP Laura Ravetto said the sentence was "spine-chilling".
She said "the girl, who clearly voiced her non-consent to sex,
supposedly 'induced the man to dare' by leaving the toilet door
open and being drunk. It's aberrant".
5-Star Movement MP Maria Edera Spadoni said the verdict "sets
the fight against gender violence back by light years".
She said magistrates needed to be "retrained" on the issue.
Democratic Party Senator Valeria Valente said "this sentence is
particularly serious" and said "I place my trust in the supreme
Coourt of Cassation to overturn it".
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