'Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?' SA-born judge to alleged rape victim

A federal judge in Canada could be removed from the bench over controversial statements he made during a rape trial in 2014.

Justice Robin Camp, who was born in South Africa, reportedly asked the alleged sexual assault victim why she couldn't "just keep [her] knees together."

The 19-year-old woman said she was raped over a bathroom sink at a house party, and the then-provincial court judge is said to have asked why she didn't "skew her pelvis" or push her bottom into the sink to avoid penetration.

"Why couldn't you just keep your knees together?" he asked, according to trial records. "Young wom[e]n want to have sex, particularly if they're drunk," he also said.. "Some sex and pain sometimes go together...that's not necessarily a bad thing." The 64-year-old judge went on to acquit the accused rapist.

"I want you to tell your friends, your male friends, that they have to be far more gentle with women. They have to be far more patient. And they have to be very careful. To protect themselves, they have to be very careful."

The verdict was appealed and a new trial is set to begin in November.

Meanwhile, a number of women's organisations have called for the removal of the judge over his statements which "reflect an antipathy towards legislation designed to protect the integrity of vulnerable witnesses, and designed to maintain the fairness and effectiveness of the justice system”.

Testifying in front of the Canadian Council Judicial (CJC), the justice apologized for his comments.

“The person I most want to apologise to is the complainant," he said in his three-hour testimony.

"I can see she's a fragile personality. Her background has not been easy. Her life has not been easy.

"And I was rude and insulting. By extension, I have caused unhappiness among other people, mainly women and some men who have been sexually abused. I'm sorry about those. Canadians deserve better of their judges.

“I must apologise to the judiciary. I've made the role of each judge in this country more difficult and I'm sorry for that."

Sources: cnn.com, globalnews.ca

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