Update on Judge Deni and Her Racist Definition of Rape

Along with many other bloggers, I posted about how Judge Deni dismissed rape charges on the basis that the victim was a prostitute. I’ve just beein informed that the prostitute is also black. I suspected this was a possibility, but nothing I read anywhere mentioned her race.

This changes the case’s context, as Renegade Evolution says:

And what we have here is a White Female Judge, who makes a whole lotta money, who has all sorts of advantages, Treating a Black Female who does not have that money, or those advantages like a subhuman piece of garbage. And it is so not an isolated incident. It is also bullshit. This whole thing reeks of the snotty upper-class white lady turning up her nose at the dirty, unseemly single black mother hooker. A woman who does, probably has to do, things that the Refined Judge herself has never had to consider doing, would never considering doing, because she has advantages in life this other woman did not. And yet, she sits in judgment over her, and passes down judgment that is far more reaching than in a legal capacity.

I wish I could say it better, but I’m grateful Ren Ev said it so well.

Sadly, I’ve heard bad news. Yes, Philadelphia voted in favor of rapists:

DENI, TERESA CARR
“Yes” 74,647 (65.9%)
“No” 38,681 (34.1%)
 
(PA elections)

Thank you to Renegade Evolution for these numbers.

Theft of Dignity, Human Rights, etc.

This made the news a couple of weeks ago. A 20-year old prostitute was raped multiple times at gunpoint. She did negotiate to have sex for money, but she wasn’t paid, and having four men rape her while pointing a gun at her isn’t something anyone should have to endure just because she did negotiate sex for money. Bound Not Gagged has asked bloggers - sex workers and allies - to post about this, to hold a virtual rally. I’m posting for three reasons: This is an abhorrent way to treat rape and rape victims, this encourages the treatment of cis women who are sex workers as less than human, and I can’t help but wonder what would happen if a trans woman sex worker were brought before this judge or one of a similar mindset. Hell, I wonder about the even more likely case of a trans prostitute’s murder brought before this woman. If this is her attitude, she shouldn’t be sitting on the bench. Thanks to Elizabeth McClung, I don’t have to worry about that last any more. It’s no surprise, though.

Philadelphia Judge Teresa Carr Deni dismissed the assault and rape charges in a preliminary hearing, referring to the crime as “theft of services” and saying “She consented and didn’t get paid . . . I thought it was a robbery.” She goes on to say “A case like this minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped.”

I admit, I’m appalled that any judge - man or woman - could say this about another human being. As Renegade Evolution says today:

I’d like to say I am shocked about this ruling, but I’m not. Outrage, pissed, annoyed, but shocked? No, not in the least. Hell, I watch the news. All this “I can’t believe a woman judge would do this?” All the stunned reactions? That, honestly, is what surprises me. Not her stupid ass ruling, but the fact that people are surprised by it. Sex workers get the short end from just about everyone; society, the law, the media, religion, women and men alike, so it’s not hard at all for me to believe that a judge (even a woman one!) would pass down such an obviously inhuman and downright asinine ruling. Though it does make me want to say “Murder is a job related risk of being a judge, so if it should happen to judges, it should be looked at as an occupational hazard and reduced to crime of passion/assault in those cases”?

It also makes me wonder where this clown went to law school. See, if I take my car to get repaired and I drive off without paying the mechanic, THAT is theft of services. If I pull a gun on the mechanic, beat him, force him to repair my friend’s cars, then it becomes robbery with a deadly weapon, assault and battery, and assault with a deadly weapon. Oh yeah, and if I force him to have sex with me, its RAPE…even if he was hittin’ on me earlier.

Oh yes, but I hear you know…but Ren, prostitutes sell sex, and doing so is, in most areas, an illegal activity! Well, yeah, so what? When it’s sold, it’s a business transaction (Which, for fucks sake, should not be illegal). When it’s taken forcibly and against her will, it’s rape. Even when the victim is a prostitute. How hard is that to grasp? Sex itself is not illegal, any woman can have sex anytime she wants (as long as she’s not selling it!) and if she were to get raped, well, it’s a crime… same goes for prostitutes, bonehead judge and bonehead supporters of the judge.

Sex against someone’s will is rape, plain and simple, no matter what services that person provides for a living.

As for the defendent, Dominique Gindraw? He went on to repeat this same crime four days after the charges were dismissed, and Deni dismissed this case entirely for “failure to prosecute.”

I don’t really know if the Deni is just an idiot, or if she believes she’s upholding some kind of radical faux feminist anti-pornstitution, or if she’s just into the whole misogynistic “blame the victim” mentality when it comes to rape, or at least when it comes to raping prostitutes. I don’t think he motives really matter, the results do - and this result is bad for all of us. If rape is excusable in some circumstances, that sabotages any work to end rape culture. It leaves a crack. “Well, rape is bad…except for prostitutes. And women of color. And we could probably get away with raping institutionalized women, because it’s not like they’re aware or have rights.” Rape is not an occupational hazard. Judge Deni should not be sitting on the bench if these are the kinds of irresponsible, inhumane, and contemptuous decisions she makes.

Octogalore asks “Who’s Next?”

Daisy Deadhead covers all of this in more detail

For immediate release

Contact: 877-776-2004 info@DesireeAlliance.org

 

Rape is NOT an Occupational Hazard!

Sex Workers Join Women’s Groups and Sexual Assault Survivors’ Groups to Urge PA Voters to Vote ‘No’ on the Retention of Judge Teresa Carr Deni

Judge Teresa Carr Deni spawned outrage from all directions after ruling on October 4^th that a sex worker that was raped at gunpoint by multiple men was NOT sexually assaulted, rather she was just robbed. Deni commented in an Oct. 12^th interview that this case “minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped.”

 

Grassroots activists around the country, including nationwide sex worker-led organizations such as the Desiree Alliance and regional advocacy groups from coast to coast responded with anger and disgust for Deni’s disregard of the basic human rights of the rape victim in this case. “Deni’s decision in this case sends a message that sex workers can be targeted for violence with impunity. Rape of sex workers is common, alarmingly under-reported, and rarely taken seriously by authorities,” Kitten Infinite of Sex Workers’ Outreach Project said. “Violence against sex workers is perpetuated by the state through discriminatory laws and judicial rulings such as this.”

Sex workers in the US and abroad are organizing and becoming more vocal about the violence and discrimination that they face. “Because prostitution is criminalized, our human rights and our boundaries are clearly not respected,” Mariko Passion, a board member from the Desiree Alliance commented, she continues, ”…forcing or manipulating sexual intercourse by fraud, fear or coercion is rape.” On Oct 30^th, after considerable pressure from sex workers and feminists around the country, the PA Bar Association issued a statement condemning Deni’s action, stating that, “The victim has been brutalized twice in this case: first by the assailants, and now by the court.”

The Desiree Alliance applauds Association Chancellor Jane Dalton’s review of the matter and we find some satisfaction in the fact that the District Attorney’s office has re-filed rape charges against the perpetrator of this despicable crime. However, we still call on voters to vote ‘No’ on retaining Deni in the election on November 6^th. The Desiree Alliance will hold a virtual press conference and rally on Monday, November 5^th at 5pm Eastern for sex workers and allies to comment publicly about this case and how to prevent further discrimination against sex workers.

Who: Desiree Alliance and Affiliates

What: “Rape is NOT an Occupational Hazard!” Virtual rally

Why: Judge Teresa Carr Deni should not be retained as a Municipal Court Judge in Philadelphia

When: Monday, November 5, 2007 5pm Eastern, 2pm Pacific

Where: http://www.BoundNotGagged.com