It was only a couple of days back that the Stanford Rape case had sparked a debate after the judge let off the accused with a light sentence. Now, a similar but all the more shocking judgement passed by a court in Germany has become a subject of controversy.
In 2012, German Model and reality TV star Gina-Lisa Lohfink, complained that she was allegedly drugged and raped by two men after a night out at a night club. Later, the video was circulated online and removed. According to this report, the video showed Gina repeatedly saying “No” and “Stop It!” to her alleged rapists. However, the court ruled this testimony out and stated that it showed no evidence of rape. Furthermore, it fined her 24,000 euros for falsely accusing the men of rape.
Stating that the “No” did not seem like a “No” to the act of rape but seemed like a “No” to the filming, the judge (who has not been named) also fined the men for a smaller sum. Speaking to DerSpiegel’s online edition, Lohfink questioned the verdict and said the following:
“They are turning me from a victim into an offender. Do I have to be killed first? Will they only get it then?”
The judgment has now invited a heated debate both on the legitimacy of the claims made by the model and the lack of sensitivity in the judgement. In social media, the claims made by Lohfink were booed down by several commentators as an ‘attention-grabbing’ attempt made by a ‘scantily-clad platinum blonde model according to this report. On the other hand, some reports claim that Lohfink has now become the face of the “No means No” Anti-rape campaign and could now possibly usher the change in Germany since the country is all set to change its laws around sexual harassment.
The present set of statutes governing sexual assault in Germany, an incident of groping, unwanted kissing or even touching any private part without consent would not be seen or counted as sexual harassment according to this report.
