Courtney O'Donnell

Transgender actress, advocate, and writer; star, 'Lexie Cannes'

Swedish Judge Rules Man Not Guilty of Attempted Rape of Trans Woman
Because She Has No Vagina

Posted: 07/06/2012 9:41 pm

At first glance this appears to be something right out the tabloids,
but Örebro District Court Judge Dan Sjöstedt ruled that the planned
rape by the attacker would have been impossible to carry out in the
absence of a vagina. The attacker was instead charged with a
considerably lesser crime.

According to a Swedish news report
<http://na.se/nyheter/orebro/1.1721191-valdtaktsforsok-blev-misshandel>
translated into English <http://bit.ly/MSV6Ol> , the attacker brutally
beat the victim and ripped off her pants in an attempt to rape her. A
witness rushed to the scene and intervened. The police came and
arrested the attacker.

While the Örebro District Court is convinced that the man was actually
trying to rape the woman, they ruled that it was in fact a (cisgender)
woman the man wanted to rape, not a "physical man," and although the
court considered the fact that the victim had undergone hormone
therapy to change gender, it still ruled that there was no completed
rape.

With the help of readers of my earlier report
<http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/rapist-freed-in-sweden-be...>
on the matter and comments elsewhere in the blogosphere, much of the
translation to this point appears to be factually correct.

Swedish readers say the rapist was instead charged with battery and
sentenced to four months in jail. He was also fined 15,000 Swedish
kronor, which goes to the victim. There is also a chance he may face
further charges.

To no surprise, reaction to this decision from the trans community has
mostly been one of disgust and outrage: A rape is a rape, vagina or no
vagina, most seem to be saying. Some have wondered if the interruption
factored into the decision; others say the ruling renders trans people
subhuman if only vagina-seeking rapists can be charged with rape.

Complicating the matter is the Swedish judicial system: It's not
thoroughly understood by many of us; however, some say that a better
outcome for the victim may surface down the road. In short, in the
Swedish system, lower-level judges are often likely to just follow the
letter of the law and then pass it along to a higher court to handle
the intent of Swedish law.

While this is not a good precedent for trans people, obviously, I am
hoping that international transgender organizations look into this
incident. I also look for a more detailed news report into this
incident, hopefully one in English, as well, as half the time spent on
this matter involves correctly interpreting the translation.

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