Sunday, August 08, 2021

Eleven minutes: A protest against a rape ruling in Basel

There was a protest at the Appellate Court in Basel this afternoon after a decision in a rape case last week: the rapist's sentence was reduced on appeal for several reasons, including that the rape only lasted eleven minutes. As part of the demonstration, we participants stood with our wrists crossed over our heads for eleven minutes. As my upper arms cramped up (and I can still feel the effects now, almost eight hours later), I realized how long eleven minutes can seem – and it would of course have seemed even longer during the rape in question, as the woman being attacked would not have known how long it would continue. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 8 August 2021)

 




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