A provincial court for the first time found a man in his 20s guilty of ``raping'' a transexual, Wednesday, challenging the current law that defines rape to when a man has forcible sex with a woman born a female. The victim's legal gender still remains man.
The Busan District Court sentenced the man to three years in prison suspended for four years on charges of raping the 59-year-old transsexual. He was also ordered to participate in 120 hours of community service.
Judge Ko Jong-joo said in the ruling, ``The victim has acted like woman since he was born. In 1974, when he turned 24, he underwent a gender reassignment program. He once also lived with a male partner for a decade. Given all of these, he can be seen as female.''
The judge added that although the victim was legally a man, but this did not take into account his sexual identity. ``Thus, his sex in legal documents cannot be seen as his `ultimate' gender,'' he said.
The rapist invaded the victim's home last August and raped her using a blunt weapon. The prosecution initially indicted the man on a ``molestation'' charge but changed it to ``rape'' later after considering the victim's personal history. It sought a five-year prison term, Feb. 11.
Giving the unprecedented ruling, the judge set three criteria to define the precedent ― whether the victim had sex change surgery; how long he/she has lived with appearance of the opposite sex; and if he/she has no problems having sexual relations.
In a similar case in 1996, the Supreme Court did not acknowledge rape charge, citing the victim's sexual chromosome identity as a male.
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pastor2 (211.206.16.166)
02-19-2009 15:34
Jimbo; You shouldn't pick on archibabel so much.. especially when i'm drinking coffee... i almost choked..to death.
pastor2 (211.206.16.166)
02-19-2009 15:26
I agree totally with Italian.. forcing sex upon a man, woman, child, or even a goat should be considered rape.. and should be punishable as a crime.
Scarmentado99 (121.168.55.162)
02-19-2009 15:26
So what he's basically saying is, "Yes, your honor, I broke into her house, hit her over the head with a blunt instrument, and raped her, but it's ok because I don't think she's really a woman." They're probably going to start teaching this case in law school now.
jimbo1a (59.20.215.151)
02-18-2009 22:46
God, raping a 59 year old man/woman. How sick. The only thing sicker is the judges sentence. But seriously, Arse, I hope you're OK. You should probably get some consouling, and also get one of those doughnuts to sit on until you heal.
ItalianCanuck1 (121.170.146.245)
02-18-2009 21:50
Rape is rape--gender, even mixed-one, is not relevant!