What’s Current: Minnesota Supreme Court overturns felony rape conviction because victim was ‘voluntarily intoxicated’

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  • The Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction involving a woman who was assaulted after she passed out due to alcohol consumption. In a unanimous decision, Supreme Court judges ruled to amend the existing law so that rape perpetrated when the victim was voluntarily intoxicated no longer can be considered a felony.
  • Women’s rights campaigners in Australia are urging the government to provide greater financial support for Aboriginal women’s domestic violence services. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die as a result of domestic abuse.
  • Telegram chat groups in Singapore circulating pornographic and private images of women and girls were discovered during police investigations. Currently 10 such groups have been identified, some of which had at least 7,000 members.
  • A website dedicated to documenting allegations of sexual harassment and assault at prestigious UK private schools, called Everyone’s Invited, has accrued over 10,000 accusations, prompting the government to create a special hotline for students seeking to report abuse.
  • The death of a Salvadoran woman at the hands of Mexican police has sparked outcry against femicide and police brutality. A video of Victoria Esperanza Salazar’s death went viral on social media, and President Obrador responded by saying Salazar was “brutally treated and murdered” by authorities.
  • A 16-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh, India, was punished for reporting her rapist by being tied to her abuser and paraded through the streets.
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.