“Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?”
That’s what a teenage girl was asked before a courtroom full of people during the trial of the man she alleged raped her.
No, the words didn’t come from a defence lawyer for the accused trying to discredit her account of what happened.
And no, they didn’t fall out of the early 19th century.
The question came from behind the bench, from presiding judge Robin Camp. In 2014.
It wasn’t the only unsolicited advice he offered the 19-year-old homeless girl about how she could have avoided her alleged rape by a 115kg man in the bathroom of a house party.
“If you were … frightened you could have screamed”, he proffered.
“Why didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t penetrate you?”
Judge Camp's behaviour has been compared with that of American Judge Persky who was slammed for his light treatment of Stanford rapist Brock Turner.
News.com.au reports that throughout the trial, Camp repeatedly referring to the young woman as "the accused", despite the accused in fact being a Calgary man, Alexander Scott Wagar.
To be fair, Camp did concede there might be some truth to the victim's claim the experience was painful for her, conceding that "sex is very often a challenge. Sex and pain sometimes go together, that ... that’s not necessarily a bad thing".
After dismissing the charges against Wagar as "misbehaviour" he then gave him some helpful tips for avoiding more pesky rape charges down the track: "You’ve got to be really sure that she’s saying yes … so remind yourself every time that you get involved with a girl from now on and tell your friends, okay?"
The cast of Girls' powerful PSA on sexual assault (post continues after video):
The acquittal was overturned last year, which is when Camp's comments were published in full resulting in a flood of complaints to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC).
But even as Crown Prosecutor Hyatt Mograbee accused of him "antiquated thinking", an online petition calling for his immediate removal was gaining traction and an inquiry into his treatment of the woman began, he was being promoted to the Federal Court.
Camp says he's learned his lesson and is now equipped with the "empathy, wisdom and sensitivity" needed to do his job properly, according to the response he submitted to the CJC.
"He now understands that some of his prior thinking was infected with stereotypical beliefs and discredited myths."
Perhaps his outdated thinking isn't the only thing that ought to be discredited...
Top Comments
Oh my god, "Sex and pain sometimes go together, that ... that’s not necessarily a bad thing". IS HE SERIOUS?! Rape is not sex. And how is a tiny girl meant to hold her knees together against a large man?
That poor, poor girl - I couldn't handle hearing someone say that to me as a victim. She's been victimised twice; once by the rape, and then by this idiot judge. There is no excuse for this judge's behaviour.
Makes me wonder what he's gotten up to in his personal life actually. Very suspicious.
I honestly think there should be a separate area of court for rape and sexual assault cases. There needs to be special judges and lawyers who have training to be able to deal with these traumatic events with sensitivity and empathy because this can be very shameful for male and female victims. This needs to happen without the further trauma of speaking to ridiculous judges and lawyers with out of touch with reality attitudes.
There was talk a while back about bringing in special courts for sexual assault. Not sure if it's still on the cards or not, I just remember it giving me hope...
I hope it is still going ahead, I hope at least our lawyers can make a good test run and one day if it works well can be adopted all over the world.