Man acquitted of rape because 'tempted to dare' by open door

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 8 - A young Italian man was acquitted of rape on appeal Thursday after a Turin judge ruled that his alleged victim's leaving her door open was "an inducement to dare".
    The judge ruled that the girl, "high after an excessive use of alcohol caused the young man to approach".
    The pair went to the toilet of a central Turin pub together in May 2019 and she left the door ajar, "behaviour which was an invitation to dare" on the young man's part.
    She also had a broken zip fastening in her jeans, "but this was old and worn out and does not prove that it was torn when she was disrobed", said the judge.
    The appeals sentence, which overturned an over two-year first-instance conviction for rape, was roundly condemned by politicians and women's groups.
    League MP Laura Ravetto said the sentence was "spine-chilling".
    She said "the girl, who clearly voiced her non-consent to sex, supposedly 'induced the man to dare' by leaving the toilet door open and being drunk. It's aberrant".
    5-Star Movement MP Maria Edera Spadoni said the verdict "sets the fight against gender violence back by light years".
    She said magistrates needed to be "retrained" on the issue.
    Democratic Party Senator Valeria Valente said "this sentence is particularly serious" and said "I place my trust in the supreme Coourt of Cassation to overturn it". (ANSA).