©Sasun Bughdaryan via Unsplash
On Thursday, hundreds of people protested in Utrecht against the acquittal of two men in a rape case involving a 17-year-old girl. According to local media, about 700 protesters gathered at the courthouse, including activists from Dolle Mina, who called the ruling “incomprehensible.”
The court ruled last week that while it was established that sexual acts took place, it could not be legally proven that rape had occurred. According to the judge, it could not be established that the victim was in a particularly vulnerable position, which was necessary in this case to secure a conviction.
The case centers on an incident that took place last October. After an evening out at a bar, the girl got into the car with the two men, aged 45 and 48, who were supposed to drive her home. On the way, the group stopped at a parking lot near a McDonald’s, where, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, sexual acts took place. Shortly after she arrived home, the girl called a friend and said she had been raped. The Public Prosecutor’s Office had sought a four-year prison sentence and is appealing the acquittal. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the men took advantage of the teenager’s vulnerable position, but the court found insufficient evidence to support this. The judge also noted that the sexual contact stopped when the girl said she wanted to go home.
The protesters were not satisfied with this ruling. They carried signs with slogans such as “Hands off my body,” “Stop victim blaming,” and “No means no.” The protest was part of a broader discussion in the Netherlands about sexual violence, consent, and how vulnerability is assessed in court cases. The ruling caused significant public outcry because, while the court confirmed that sexual acts had taken place, it could not legally classify them as rape. For the protesters in Utrecht, that was precisely the problem: in their view, the victim’s vulnerability should be given greater weight.
©Sasun Bughdaryan via Unsplash - illustrative image