Hundreds of Swiss women took to the streets after a court reduced the prison sentence of a convicted rapist because the attack lasted 11 minutes

• Hundreds took to the streets in Basel, Switzerland, after a court reduced a rapist’s sentence.

• The judge explained that she had reduced the sentence because the attack had lasted “only” eleven minutes.

• The judge also said that the victim was not seriously injured and was “playing with fire”.

• For more stories, visit Insider’s homepage.

Hundreds of Swiss protesters took to the streets in Basel on Sunday after a court last month reduced the sentence of a rapist on the grounds that the sexual assault lasted only 11 minutes and the victim was not seriously injured, Swiss Info reported.

In February 2020, a woman was raped in her apartment in Basel, northwestern Switzerland, by a 33-year-old Portuguese man and his 17-year-old companion after they visited a nightclub. The 33-year-old was convicted of rape in August, while the teenager is still awaiting the verdict of the juvenile court.

Court President Liselotte Henz decided to reduce the rapist’s sentence from four years and three months to three years. The defendant could be released as early as Wednesday, reported the Swiss media portal 20 Minuten.

Henz said the victim was “playing with fire” and sending “certain signals,” 20 Minuten reported. Henz was referring to the fact that the victim had apparently been making out with another man in the nightclub before the attack, the newspaper reported.

As they marched in front of the Swiss Court of Appeal in Basel, demonstrators held up signs reading “11 minutes are 11 minutes too many!”

The judge further stated that the perpetrator was “moderately” at fault for the incident.

The reduced sentence was widely condemned.

Frauenstrike Basel, a feminist organisation in Basel, stated: “The decision to use violence against a person’s will always lies solely with the perpetrator.” It added that “a rape, whether it lasts eleven minutes or several hours, is degrading” and “violent”.

Marcel Columb, Vice President of the Basel Social Democrats, tweeted that the rapist’s sentence was already short and that the shortened prison term sends the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse.

“Four years’ imprisonment is already a mild sentence, but to accuse the woman of complicity through her behavior towards someone who was not involved in the crime is intolerable. What a sign for all victims of sexual violence,” he writes.

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