outrage/protests in Ireland. man aquitted of rape - lace front thong shown as evidence of consent
At a rape trial in Cork, Ireland last week the barrister, Elizabeth O’Connoll, representing the defendant, in her closing statements, asked the Jury to consider the teenage complainants choice of underwear in their deliberations. She told the jury “You have to consider how she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front. The defendant was subsequently found not guilty.
https://www.komorebipost.com/irish-rape-trial-shown-complainants-thong-by-barrister/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46207304
A series of protests over sexual consent have been taking place in Ireland, a week after a man was acquitted of raping a 17-year-old.
In the trial, the defence lawyer told the jury: "You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front."
The 27-year-old man was found not guilty of rape shortly afterwards.
The controversy led one Irish MP to hold up a lace thong in parliament to highlight "routine victim-blaming".
Ruth Coppinger produced the blue lacy underwear in the Dáil (Irish parliament) from her sleeve on Tuesday.
"It might seem embarrassing to show a pair of thongs here... how do you think a rape victim or a woman feels at the incongruous setting of her underwear being shown in a court?"
What happened at the trial?
The case, in which the man was cleared of rape, was originally reported by the Irish Examiner newspaper on 6 November.
The accused maintained that the sexual contact between him and the girl, which took place in a laneway in Cork, had been consensual.