Anger erupted in New Zealand recently after a defense lawyer told a rape victim that, if she didn’t want to be sexually assaulted in a Wellington alley, she should have closed her legs.
Victims’ rights advocates condemned attorney Keith Jefferies’ statement in Wellington District Court on Thursday.
Jefferies told the court the victim did not struggle or cry out.
"All she would have had to do was to close her legs. It's as simple as that. Why didn't she do that? The reason she didn't do that was because the sex was consensual, as easy as that," Jefferies told the jury.
His client, George Jason Pule, was convicted of rape on Wednesday. The 20-year-old victim said Pule approached her and told her he could get her into a club where her friends were. Instead, he led her down an alley and raped her.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/outrage-after-attorney-tells-rape-victim-you-could-have-closed-your-legs
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