Hundreds of Swiss women took to the streets after a court reduced a convicted rapist's prison time because the assault lasted 11 minutes
- Hundreds took to the streets in Basel, Switzerland, after a court reduced a rapist's sentence.
- The judge said she reduced the sentence because the assault was "only" 11 minutes long.
- The justice also said the victim was not severely injured and had "played with fire."
Hundreds of Swiss protesters took to the streets of Basel on Sunday after a court reduced the sentence of a rapist last month on the grounds that the sexual assault was only 11 minutes long, and that the victim had not been severely injured, Swiss Info reported.
In February 2020, a woman was raped by a 33-year-old Portuguese man and his 17-year-old companion in her apartment in Basel, northwest Switzerland, after going to a nightclub. The 33-year-old was convicted of rape in August, while the teenager is still awaiting judgment from the juvenile court.
Court President Liselotte Henz opted to reduce the rapist's sentence from four years and three months to three years. The defendant could be released as early as Wednesday, the Swiss media site 20 Minuten reported.
Henz said the victim had been "playing with fire" and giving out "certain signals," 20 Minuten reported. Henz was referring to the victim apparently making out with another man in the nightclub, prior to the assault, the outlet reported.
Marching before the Swiss Appeals Court in Basel, protesters held up signs reading "11 minutes are 11 minutes too many!"
The judge went on to say the perpetrator was at "medium" fault for the incident.
The reduced sentence has received widespread condemnation.
Frauenstreik Basel, a feminist organization in Basel, said, "The decision to use violence against a person's will always rests with the perpetrator alone." It added that "whether a rape lasts 11 minutes or several hours," it is "humiliating" and "violent."
Marcel Columb, the vice president of the Basel Social Democrats, tweeted that the rapist's sentence was already short to begin with, and that the reduced jail time sent the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse.
"A four-year sentence was already mild, but now to imply the woman was complicit due to her behavior to someone uninvolved with the crime is unbearable. What a sign for all victims of sexualized violence," he wrote.