Spain: Judge asks rape victim if she tried 'closing her legs'

A judge in Spain reportedly asked a rape victim whether she had tried "closing her legs" while dealing with her case.

A magistrate in the Basque Country in Spain, Judge Maria del Carmen Molina Mansilladel Carmen Molina Mansilla, has been accused of posing offensive questions for a woman rape victim while she was trying to narrate her ordeal. A campaign has now been launched against in order to have her suspended.

The campaign group for victims for gender crime, Clara Camoamor Association, said that they were campaigning to remove the judge from her post as she was questioning the victim with a clear bias and appeared to disbelieve the victims claims.

The associations' Blance  Estrella Ruiz said, "She showed obvious disbelief of the testimony of the victim, questioned her without allowing her to answer, asking leading and offensive questions,", The Local reported.

The victim had gone to a local police station in Vitoria to make a complaint against a man who physically and sexually assaulted her. However, when the victim made her statement in front of the judge, the judge, in turn, asked her, "Did you close your legs and all your female organs?"

The campaign group said that this is not the first instance where the judge has made light of a victim's situation and allegations. Ruiz said, "Such questions are not only unnecessary to the investigation but are completely offensive and violate the dignity of the victim. Unfortunately this is not an isolated act but such behaviour [by this judge] is habitual and continuous."