By Sharanya Gopinathan

Here’s a shocking story from all the way across the world. A male judge has found a wealthy man in Veracruz, Mexico not guilty of sexual assault on a 17-year-old. 21 year old Cruz was acquitted and freed in this case, and the reason why will leave you momentarily shocked before you remember all the statements judges and other men in power have made all over the world that contribute to the very cultures that cause horrifying instances of sexual assault. In this case, the judge found that Cruz “touched her breasts and penetrated her with his fingers” but did so “without carnal intent”, and therefore was found not guilty. He also said that, despite the victim being abducted in a car, she was not “helpless” at any point. All of which is ridiculous for glaringly evident reasons, and has led to massive outrage from activists in Mexico.

Veracruz has long been a hotbed for violence and unrest due to the presence of drug cartels in the state. The man accused in this case, Diego Cruz, belongs to an influential family, and is a member of a group that’s being referred to online as “Los Porkys de Costa de Oro”, or “Carcel a Los Porkys” or simply, “Los Porkys”, a phrase which I guess is apt in India too.

This isn’t some uniquely Mexican mindset, by the way. Men all over the world seem to have the most bizarre ideas about rape, and it becomes doubly problematic when these men are in positions of power with the ability to make influential decisions that touch the lives of women in a very real way. Remember in 2013 when the director of the CBI Ranjit Singh said that like gambling, if you can’t stop rape, enjoy it, or the Canadian judge who asked a rape victim why she didn’t keep her knees shut when she was raped? Although to be fair, it isn’t just men who have terrible misconceptions about rape and sexual assault: we reported just last month on a female judge at the Bombay High Court who said that a minor involved in a rape case (by her father) was “used to all dirty things”.