Okay, let me start by saying that rape is disgusting and should be punished. Nobody deserves to be abused, ever. No female, no male.

I read the comments on some instagram posts showing the general disgust in the justice system after a male 24 year old Gynaecology student was found guilty for rape, is left without punishment so he can continue his studies.
This made me angry to read, but I always try to inform myself a bit more before jumping on a hate-train without knowing the story. I read a few more articles, and it became clear that there is a big difference between writers and news outlets and how subjective they are.

What stuck to me was the story from De Morgen ( https://www.demorgen.be/snelnieuws/uz-leuven-zet-student-gynaecologie-die-veroordeeld-is-voor-verkrachting-op-non-actief~b043b987/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com%2F )
Which went a bit like this ;

The girl got really drunk at a party op kot. Then they left to continue partying in a bar in Leuven. Outside that bar at 4:45am she met and started talking to a student doctor who was also going out and was on his way home. He tried calling a friend of the girl who didn't reply. (The judge could verify this call) – and waited with the girl at the door of her friend but could not enter. Without place to sleep he told her she could stay at his place. According to Camera footage, they kissed/made out multiple times on the street.
They apparantly had a sexual encounter of which the girl didn't remember anything the next day except for some pain. He apparantly asked if it was okay to proceed multiple times and stopped at a certain point.
I guess most of this info came from the guy, as she claims to no longer remember anything after getting a beer in the fakbar.

A female judge, female lawyer ruled over this case that she was not able to give consent in her condition. However the things that happened had enough nuance that he did not get punished. The victim, was happy with the result and the guy showed remorse and paid nearly 4000 eur to the victim. She did not want his future to be hurt by this event, so everything was arranged in court.

Now the story became a headline and everyone is out to nearly lynch this guy, releasing his real name and demanding justice for the victim and otger rape victims.

What is my point of this post?

Where do we draw a line? When does a night out in leuven combined with beers become rape? When a subject doesn't remember undressing? What happens when a guy is drunk, or if he was equally wasted during this encounter? What happens when the girl appears to be into it, says it is okay, and afterwards claims she wasn't? Why is everyone so easily jumping to conclusions without knowing what was said in court? When does a semi drunk student suddenly become a predator after flirting with a girl? When is a drunk girl flirting with a guy something all men should be afraid of? Why is there no expected responsability from the girls side? If she doesn't remember anything after getting her last beer, she couldn't remember giving or not giving consent at his place? Should a guy (who is maybe also drunk) know a certain procedure to verify the validity of consent if a girl literally says it is ok to proceed? Should he have taken a blood sample to test before continuing?

I'm just a bit triggered by the mob mentality I see here, when there are nuances to stories like this. His life is probably ruined while he might have meant to do a good thing, was being chatted up by a girl, and then now is getting completely steamrolled by a crazy mad crowd while the victim herself is apparantly happy with the outcome in court. I wasn't there when it happened, so my sources are limited, just like 99% of the mob on social media. If he had ill intentions or took advantage, I agree he should be punished. But not by a mob mentality who want to create their own truths.

by YouThatReadWrong69

9 comments
  1. Thank you for sharing and getting us all the details. Much appreciated.

  2. There is one thing that puzzles me most about this particular case, and that’s the judge’s behaviour. If she was so understanding towards the perpetrator and found him guilty albeit without punishment, why give him the conviction in the first place? Either you’re convinced that this instance qualifies as rape, and consequently some punishment is in order no matter how persuasive the lawyer’s appeal to his otherwise good character; or you don’t convict him at all if you think he doesn’t deserve punishment.

    In other words, if I were in the judge’s shoes and came to the conclusion that we can speak of rape here, I’d hand out a serious punishment given that rape a serious felony. Vice versa if I thought that the facts of the case didn’t warrant any punishment, I wouldn’t have qualified it as rape to begin with. Anything otherwise, as happened here, is a farce in my opinion.

  3. I perfectly understand your line of thought and I´d been thinking more or less the same.

    But apparently said he knew the girl was stinkin´ drunk.

    That makes all the difference for me.

    He was lucky to run into a stupid ass judge.

  4. When there is no consent, it is rape. If you are drunk, you can´t give consent.

  5. Facts:
    He is found guilty of rape.
    There was no consent possible.

    And that is all you need to know.
    How much nuance are we tolerating? What message are you giving society with this example?
    The definition of rape is very clear. There is no nuance in rape. Consent is also a well defined concept. There is no nuance in “consent”.

    What we see here is, again, a white privileged boy getting exempt from consequences.
    Especially he needed to know better. He is becoming a gynecologist.
    Even the other victims of sexual abuse are appalled by this ruling.

    Make it make sense. It is disgusting. The ruling is unrealistic, shamefull and harmful for other victims of sexual violence.

  6. I’m just learning about this case now. Thank you for sharing it here,

    As a general rule I have always learned that drunk/intoxicated people can not consent, this applies to both male and female. The Sexual Assault Centers of Belgium also agree to that

    https://sac.belgium.be/en/persona-page/information-professionals?

    I understand that there might be confusion on where to draw the line, I think its best to distinguish flirting from sexual activity first and foremost.

    If your drunk and met someone who is also drunk its best not to engage with them physically, if you are still interested in that person its better to ask them out and see if they are still interested in you in a sober state.

    As for the court ruling, we cant know for sure what has happened exactly happened in court that made it come to this ruling, unless its made publicly available or through journalists. I have seen that other sites reported on it too, but its paywalled.

  7. The victim is NOT HAPPY with the results. That was her lawyer speaking. She , the victim, commented a few hours after the verdict, that she wanted for him to have a criminal record and to not be able to be a doctor.

  8. ITT: jongens die wenen omdat ze in 2025 nog altijd niet snappen hoe consent werkt. 

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