Recently, a Canadian Judge is facing possible removal from the bench for a comment he made to a rape victim back in 2014. He said, to the victim who had been raped over a bathroom sink, "Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" That comment, along with many others has sparked outrage across both the United States and Canada. To make the situation even better, he acquitted the rapist. So, he got to walk free after the assault.
There are so many things wrong with how this judge handled this case. He gave advice to the rapist and his male friends, AND he kept asking the victim why she didn't do certain things to prevent penetration. He had suggested that maybe if she "skewed her pelvis" she could have avoided it. Camp also asked her why she didn't "just sink [her] bottom down into the basin so [alleged rapists name] couldn't penetrate her." He then went on to say "Is it unreal for me to accept that a young man and a young woman ... want to have sex, particularly if they're drunk?" After Camp ACQUITTED the rapist, he gave him the best advice he could. "Tell your friends, your male friends, that they have to be far more gentle with women. They have to be far more patient. And they have to be very careful. To protect themselves, they have to be very careful."
As a female, I found this situation very appalling. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for the victim to sit in the courtroom and have to hear those things said. And to be asked, "why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" Why did he not ask the defendant why he didn't ask for consent? Why did he think it was ever okay to pursue someone who wasn't looking for it? Why couldn't the judge have used common sense?
Recently, Camp has come forward and said that he has apologized, multiple times, for how he had handled that case. According to CBS news, he testified at Judicial Council hearing and said, "My concept of what I did wrong has grown. I'm very sorry that, on reflection and rereading what I said, that I intimidated her, using facetious words."
We're all very glad to know that you are sorry for your past actions and that you've been to classes to "learn the law better and to understand sexual assault and violence." But, sir, you are a judge. You should have known the law to begin with and you should have known what to and not to say. There is no excuse for how you handled the case and for letting this man, who took away a woman's sense of safety and self-worth, free. To not have to answer for his crime. But, let me guess, it's all okay now because you said sorry, right? CNN put it very nicely in this video.
To anyone out there who may be reading this; if you do not give or receive verbal, completely sober consent, it is rape. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
