A senior judge has been accused of victim-blaming after telling women that drinking alcohol increases their risk of being raped. Lindsey Kushner made the remarks while sentencing a rapist in Manchester, sparking criticism from police commissioner Dame Vera Baird and campaign groups.
During the sentencing of Ricardo Rodrigues-Fortes-Gomes, 19, who was jailed for six years for raping an 18-year-old woman, Kushner said women were entitled to 'drink themselves into the ground' but warned that disinhibited behaviour could make them vulnerable. She added that drunk victims were less likely to be believed than sober ones.
Dame Vera Baird, the Northumbria police and crime commissioner, said the comments would deter victims from coming forward. 'When somebody is raped they feel guilt and shame and they find it very hard to report it,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'If a judge has just said to them... you've rather brought it on yourself, then that guilt is just going to get worse.'
The campaign group End Violence Against Women described the remarks as 'alarming', stating that 'when judges basically blame victims for rape by suggesting how much alcohol a woman drinks... we remove the responsibility from the man who did it.' The group noted that women already take precautions such as leaving early or avoiding certain clothing, yet still experience sexual violence.
