AIBU to think the judge’s comments in this case are completely inappropriate?

[Lizzie67384]

A male judge stated he thought the rapist was not a ‘dangerous man’ and that the 13 year old victim had ‘not suffered much degree of psychological harm’

There’s enough female politicians over the years that could have changed the rules over the deportation of convicted sex criminals. They could have made deportation mandatory but they didn’t bother 🥲
You’ve even had female Prime Ministers in the UK ffs.

The fact that a male judge has made comments dismissing the suffering of a female victim that almost mirror the ones made by another male judge nearly four decades ago means they haven't changed anywhere near enough.

The sentencing remarks are there for anyone to read on 'juduciary'.
The fact is he raped her and also sexually assaulted her (put his penis in her mouth).
Seven years is not enough in my book.

I hate to play straight into the hands of the likes of the Daily Mail, but in my adult life, I've had:

-A man follow me and repeatedly ask how often I had sex with my boyfriend
-A man pick me up and try to run out of a nightclub carrying me, after I'd told him I wasn't interested (thankfully the bouncer stopped him)
-A man grab me and forcibly kiss me in the street
-A man approach me and tell my husband he shouldn't allow me to go out wearing what I was wearing (shorts and T-shirt)
And whilst I didn't stop to ask in detail their heritage and am going off appearance alone, they all appeared Western Asian and had corresponding accents.

That's not to say I haven't been sexually assaulted and harassed by white men but proportionally I think it is fair to say there are some cultural problems which need addressing.

Until it is acknowledged that there are pockets within communities where it's acceptable to treat women like this, there's going to be plenty of material to stir up racial tension and people are going to feel angry.

It wasn’t such an issue back then, we didn’t have small boats - they weren’t a thing. It was mainly Vietnamese arriving in lorries and they’re a low risk group of men as far as sex offences are concerned.

No, it wasn't; and the judge was criticized strongly at the time for his bizarre interpretation of the law.

Can you link it? I’m a legal Eagle so v interested

I must admit I’m a bit flummoxed by the “suffering psychological harm” being relevant.

Some people have a stiff upper lip, or pretend to, or bury a trauma. It does not mean they are any less traumatised than a more demonstrative person.

A crime is a crime. If someone steals my bag they’ve stolen my bag. My attitude surrounding said bag stealing shouldn’t enter into it.

I agree completely.

I think extra time should be added for specific violence (eg strangulation) as that’s a crime independently. But it seems ludicrous to sentence based on the feelings of the victim which as you point out may vary.

But it is relevant because different media organisations want to push different messages, they pick and choose which facts to highlight, and will leave out context or explanatory information.

The thread is about the judge's comments. It appears from some of the other posts that the Mail has reported what was said but left out the context - why would it do that? What message is it trying to give its readers? I think the vast majority know the answers to those two questions...

No contextual information makes this kind of crime look any better. So while this may apply elsewhere - it doesn’t apply here.

The comments about context refer to the judge’s comments. Which were the original subject of this thread and also the DM story.

This has been stated and explained repeatedly, including in the post you just quoted.

Why do people keep on conflating the crime itself and the judge’s comments? Is it intentional? Can anyone point to a single post suggesting that the crime might ‘look better’ with more information?

You missed the point. It's not about the crime itself, it's about the reporting of the crime.

A male judge states that a 13 year old child wasn't traumatised by her rape!