Norwegian Court Convicts First Woman for Rape
Thu Apr 28, 9:15 AM ET
OSLO (Reuters) - A Norwegian court has sentenced a woman to nine months in jail for raping a man, the first such conviction in the Scandinavian country that prides itself for its egalitarianism. The 31-year-old man fell asleep on a sofa at a party in January last year and told the court in the western city of Bergen he woke to find the 23-year-old woman was having oral sex with him.
Under Norwegian law, all sexual acts with someone who is "unconscious or for other reasons unable to oppose the act" are considered rape. The court sentenced the woman Wednesday to nine months in jail and ordered her to pay 40,000 Norwegian crowns ($6,355) in compensation.
"This is a very harsh sentence," the woman's lawyer, Per Magne Kristiansen, told the Norwegian news agency NTB. The woman argued the man had been awake and consented. The prosecutor had sought a 10-month sentence and argued the court should not be more lenient with a woman than a man. It was Norway's first conviction of a woman for rape.
Norway has long traditions of equality -- 40 percent of the cabinet of Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, for instance, are women.
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Friday, April 29, 2005
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I totally agree with the verdict!
ReplyDeleteIt's the women who are vehemently fighting for gender equality (not that im against it), but then why have "ladies seats" in buses?
su
Puhleez Mr Slickthief not that "ladies seat" argument again!
ReplyDeletePradeep: This woman deserved what she got. I mean women insist on "consent" , then why not grant the men their right to "consent" too? Consent is mutual isn't it??? Kudos to the judge who pronounced the sentence, however nine months is too short a term for rape.
Slickthief: we will deal with "ladies seats" separately.
ReplyDeleteSliverine: True. relationships of any kind have to be mutual. But what I was interested in the entirely new definition "rape". I don't know the legalities: but I thought this was (legally) more of a sexual assault or harassment. Or, that may be the reason only nine months were handed out.
hmmm..
ReplyDeletei think that according to indian law "rape" is defined as "penetration". i am not sure about this (so lawyers dont sue me plss!!). But if this is the definition of rape in india a woman can never rape a man!
how unsafe are the streets for indian men!. They have no legal protection from rape by women :(.
anish
ps: the above comment is made in the lighter sense (incase people did not understand my convoluted attempt at a joke!)