What’s Current: Outrage in Brazil over video revealing humiliation of woman at rape trial

  • Leaked video footage of a rape trial in Brazil sparked outrage and the hashtag #JusticeForMariFerrer. The video shows the defendant’s attorney verbally abusing Mariana Ferrer as she cries and begs the judge to intervene. In addition, the judge ruled in favor of the defendant with a sentence of “unintentional rape,” a crime that doesn’t exist in Brazil’s penal code.
  • Female journalists in Malawi marched against sexual violence and called for more severe penalties for rape. Between January and September, over 1,500 rape cases were reported to authorities.
  • Judges in Peru declared that a woman who could not have been raped due to the color of her underwear. The court claimed that wearing red underwear signaled that she was looking for sex, and therefore was not a victim.
  • Video footage of a man in China beating his wife to death in the street as onlookers did not intervene has sparked outrage. China created its first law against domestic violence in 2016.
  • A child sexual predator in the UK who identifies as transgender was found to be avoiding registering as a sex offender under their female name as well as violating a sexual harm prevention order. The court expressed sympathy for repeat offender Chloe Walker, also known as Brandon Walker, suggesting that their behavior was due to frustration at waiting for a medical transition.
Genevieve Gluck

Genevieve Gluck is a writer and advocate for women's sex-based rights and creator of Women's Voices, an audio library dedicated to bringing awareness to feminist texts and speeches.