What’s Current: Oscar Pistorius’ murder sentence doubled by appeal court

  • In South Africa, an appeal court has increased Oscar Pistorius’ sentence for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp to 13 years and five months. Prosecutors argued that initial the six-year sentence was “shockingly light.”
  • Basil Bortuski has been found guilty of murdering three women near Wilno, Ontario in 2013. The women’s names were Anastasia Kuzyk, Nathalie Warmerdam, and Carol Cullerton.
  • An Irish study found that men who are convicted of killing their current or former female partners face shorter sentences than other men convicted of manslaughter.
  • A Winnipeg police officer, Remi Van Den Driessche, is on trial for multiple counts of sexual assault, extortion, criminal harassment, and breach of trust. Two of his victims — both women who were in prostitution when he targeted them — testified this week.
  • The New York Times has a roundup of some American cases where sexual assault victims have been accused of and charged with lying. Spoiler: The women weren’t lying.
Lisa Steacy

Lisa Steacy is an Assistant Editor at Feminist Current. She has a B.A. in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Toronto. However, the women she met in her five years as a frontline worker and collective member with Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter deserve almost all of the credit for her feminist education. She lives in Vancouver with her partner and their cats.