WOMEN have been posting pictures of their knickers on social media after a teenager’s underwear was used as evidence of consent at a rape trial in Ireland.
Demonstrators took to the streets in several Irish cities after a 27-year-old man was acquitted of raping a 17-year-old girl earlier last week.
According to reports, the accused man’s lawyer Elizabeth O’Connell told jurors to consider the girl’s underwear in their deliberations.
Women are posting pictures of their thongs online in support of an underage teen whose underwear was used as evidence in a rape trial to suggest she had consented to sex. #ThisIsNotConsent pic.twitter.com/6snfRSdIOD
— DW News (@dwnews) November 15, 2018
The lawyer asked the jury: “Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone? You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.”
The Irish Examiner reported that the jury acquitted the man unanimously after deliberating for 90 minutes.
The acquittal sparked fury, with thousands of women sharing images of their underwear on Twitter with the hashtag #thisisnotconsent.
My preference in underwear has no bearing on my right to safety and respect. #ThisIsNotConsent pic.twitter.com/3235HDUqd2
— Sheila Elsey (@ThingsDorySays) November 15, 2018
If I was in a court room as a victim of sexual abuse, I can’t imagine I’d ever be asked if I was wearing boxers or briefs. #ThisIsNotConsent pic.twitter.com/niS9xdR3CU
— Peter Tanham (@PeterTanham) November 14, 2018
Most of my underwear has lace on it. This doesn’t mean I want to be raped. No matter what I wear, no means no!! #ThisIsNotConsent pic.twitter.com/dUBaA702oS
— Clàudia ?️ (@catalanaalcor) November 14, 2018
Hundreds march through #Cork city to the courthouse where a 17-year old’s underwear was used by the defence barrister when addressing the jury in a rape trial #thisisnotconsent pic.twitter.com/4yqGcW6XPG
— Fiona Corcoran (@fiona96fmnews) November 14, 2018
The issue has reached the Irish parliament and there are now calls to change the way rape trials are conducted in Ireland.
