Women and Justice: Keywords

The victim was twelve to thirteen years old when she had sexual relations with the defendant. There was no presumption of sexual immaturity. It had to be proven by evidence and expert testimony. In this case, the testimony of experts, text message evidence, and the testimony of the victim demonstrated that she was not mature enough to consent to sex. While the outcome of this case was a positive one, the general Argentinean attitude towards statutory rape is not: sexual immaturity must be proven regardless of age.

La víctima tenía entre doce y trece años cuando tuvo relaciones sexuales con el acusado pero no hubo presunción de inmadurez sexual, la cual tenía que ser probada por la evidencia y el testimonio de expertos. En este caso, el testimonio de expertos, la evidencia del mensaje de texto y el testimonio de la víctima demostraron que no era lo suficientemente madura como para consentir el sexo. Si bien el resultado de este caso fue positivo, la actitud general argentina hacia la violación estatutaria no lo es: la inmadurez sexual debe probarse independientemente de la edad.

Here, the court affirmed a judgment involuntarily committing the petitioner to a Special Treatment Unit as a sexually violent predator under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.24). Under this act, the state must prove by clear and convincing evidence that an alleged offender is a “sexually violent predator and currently suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes him highly likely to engage in acts of sexual violence if not confined.” In this case, the defendant had been indicted for aggravated sexual assault of five pre-teen females, five counts of kidnapping, two counts of terroristic threats, two counts of robbery, two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, and two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The court found that the state’s use of expert testimony that the petitioner’s condition predisposed him to sexual violence established by clear and convincing evidence that he is a high risk to re-offend unless confined.

Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s grant of a domestic violence restraining order requested by plaintiff against her husband. In this case, the defendant had threatened to seek revenge on his children because they had hospitalized him. Defendant walked around the house with knives, verbally abused the children, and prevented the family from sleeping by making loud noises. While intoxicated, defendant had also previously asked his son to kill him with a hammer and knife. The court noted that Connecticut’s Gen. Stat. § 46b-15 “clearly requires a continuous threat of present physical pain or physical injury before a court can grant a domestic violence restraining order.” The court found that the above facts presented enough of a continuous threat of present physical pain or injury so that the trial court’s ruling was not an abuse of discretion, and affirmed the grant of a restraining order.

Here, the defendant had a prior conviction of sexual assault in the third degree. He was sentenced to two years of prison with three years probation. Under Gen. Stat. § 54-252, the defendant was required to register as a sex offender with the sex offender registry unit of the state policy. Id. at 338. While the defendant initially registered after his release from prison, he later failed to comply with all of the registration reporting requirements. Id. Specifically, he failed to return an address verification form. The defendant had moved and six months later, contacted the registry office to send correspondence to his new address so he could update his registry. Id. The defendant since remained in compliance with registry requirements. Nonetheless, the court affirmed the trial court’s conviction that the defendant failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

Respondent sought damages from petitioner and Irman Ahmed, who terminated Respondent’s employment. Respondent brought, inter alia, claims of negligent hiring and retention against Ruffin Corp. and intentional infliction of emotional distress by Ahmed; employment discrimination and 13 by Ruffin and retaliation by Ruffin. Gasper alleged that Ruffin hotel hired Ahmed, despite its knowledge that a number of employees had complained of his abusive behavior, behavior that included 13. She also alleged that Ahmed refused to intervene when she was harassed by another employee and that he fired her after she complained of the harassment. The court held that petitioner’s claim for negligent hiring and retention, due to her allegation that Ruffin hired an individual against whom allegations of 13 had been made, was not preempted by Title VII, the Maryland Human Relations Act, a county code provision prohibiting retaliation for complaining of 13 or the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Act. It also found that the rule prohibiting introduction of evidence of other crimes was only applicable in criminal, not civil cases; however, Gasper could not introduce evidence of harassment by Ahmed occurring prior to Ahmed’s rehire because her current allegation was against another employee.

Plaintiff Jane Doe (“Doe”) filed a lawsuit under a pseudonym and alleged 23 causes of action including human trafficking, sexual battery, forced labor and involuntary servitude against Defendants Mr. and Mrs. Penzato. Mrs. Penzato had offered Doe $1,500 per month, free room and board, and transportation to the United States in exchange for child care and housekeeping services. Doe accepted the offer and moved to San Francisco, California. Doe alleged that during her employment Defendants physically assaulted her, sexually molested her, threatened her with cancellation of her visa, and abused or exploited her in various other ways. She eventually left the Penzatos’ household and moved to a transitional housing residence for female victims of violence. Doe filed a motion for a protective order and requested permission to proceed with the lawsuit under a pseudonym. Doe argued that this was necessary to avoid additional psychological trauma due to the sensitive and personal nature of her claims. Further, she argued that the use of a pseudonym would help maintain the safety and anonymity of her fellow transitional housing residents. Defendants argued that because they were publically accused of sexual abuse, human trafficking, and forced labor, Doe should also be publicly exposed. Defendants also argued that they would be prejudiced by the extra effort they would have to take to keep her identity a secret. The court granted Doe’s motion and allowed her to proceed under a pseudonym, holding that Doe’s need to remain anonymous outweighed Defendants’ arguments and the public’s interest in knowing her identity. The court noted the strong interest in protecting sexual assault victims’ identities—to encourage them to report the assaults without fear of being stigmatized as a sexual assault victim.