A judge has ruled that a man did not rape a woman because he had invited her in by leaving the toilet door open. He went to the toilet in a pub in the city center of Turin in May 2019 on the night in question. However, a judge said she was “psyched out after drinking too much” and leaving the door open was an “invitation” which “invited the man to approach”. The zip on her jeans was also broken, but the appeals court – who overturned a two-year rape conviction – said that was because it was old and worn, not because of the attack. Italian MP Laura Ravetto described the case as “chilling”. He said: “The girl, who made it clear she did not consent to sex, allegedly ‘triggered the man’ by leaving the toilet door open and drunk. She is deviant.’ Fellow judge Maria Spadoni said the ruling “sets the fight against gender-based violence back light years” adding that judges would need to be retrained. It is now hoped that the case will be heard by the supreme court and overturned. In Italy in 2019, two men were acquitted of rape after judges found the victim “too masculine” and unattractive. One of the judges saved her number in his phone under Viking. In 2017 – also in Turin – another man was acquitted of raping his colleague because, while told “enough”, he did not scream for help.
