U.N. official says rape, sexual violence rising in Ethiopia's Tigray conflict
By Clyde Hughes
A female refugee and her child wait to receive aid at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan, not far from the Ethiopia-Sudan border, on December 1, 2020. File Photo by Ala Kheir/EPA-EFE
Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A top United Nations official is demanding an end to sexual violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia that has resulted from fighting between government forces and local factions.
Pramila Patten, U.N. special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, called on all people in the conflict to end hostilities and stop using sexual violence as a weapon.
Ethiopian forces under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have been fighting leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front since November for control of the region. The fighting has led to widespread lawlessness and the exodus of more than 50,000 civilian refugees to Sudan.
Patten said her office has received "serious" reports of large-scale sexual violence, particularly around Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region.
"There are also disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of imminent violence," Patten said in a statement.
"Some women have also reportedly been forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for basic commodities, while medical centers have indicated an increase in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections which is often an indicator of sexual violence in conflict."
Patten added that women and girls have not been able to find safety in refugee camps, where reports of sexual violence are increasing.
"[With] the hampered physical access in many parts of Tigray, and the dire situation of civilians especially refugees, it remains critical that humanitarian actors and independent human rights monitors be granted immediate, unconditional and sustained access," she said, calling for medical and mental health protections.
"Many of them [are] reportedly sleeping in an open field with no water or food," she said.
"The United Nations estimates that of these refugees, more than 25% are women and girls of reproductive age."
Tigray, Ethiopia
Butcher denies raping and killing student Libby Squire
as he takes the stand at his murder trial
Monday 25 January 2021, 6:59pm
Libby Squire's body was recovered from the River Hull in March 2019.
A Polish butcher accused of the rape and murder of Hull University student Libby Squire has admitted having sex with the 21-year-old hours before she disappeared.
Speaking through an interpreter, Pawel Relowicz told Sheffield Crown Court at his murder trial that he'd been cruising the student area of Hull "looking for a woman" when he met Ms Squire on the night of 31st January.
The 26-year-old said he saw first her on the pavement. He approached her "out of curiousity", he explained.
He told the court: "She was crying and shouting" and "wanted to help her.”
Asked by his barrister Oliver Saxby QC, how she behaved towards him, he replied:
“Nice, she was nice, but she was saying she didn’t know what was going on with her.”
Asked if he found her attractive, he said: “She was a very beautiful woman.”
He added that he did not physically force Libby Squire into his car and put her seatbelt on for her “because she was drunk”.
He said she was “barely” able to stand but he believed she understood everything that he said to her.
The prosecution allege he picked up Ms Squire, who was drunk and distressed after she had been turned away from a nightclub.
They told the jury it was while he was “prowling around the student area” looking for an opportunity to commit a sexual offence against a vulnerable young woman.
They added that he drove her in his car to the remote Oak Road playing fields, where he raped and murdered her, before putting her body into the River Hull.
The defendant denies all charges.
He said he stopped the car as Ms Squire was making sounds as if she wanted to be sick. When the car stopped, he said, she left the car but fell to the ground.
He said they had consensual sex when he went to help but afterwards she became angry when he spurned her kiss and scratched his face.
Yeah, cause when you are throwing up and lying on the ground, that's when you want to have sex. Right?
That was when he drove away and left her, he said. When he returned home, he revealed he had a bath and washed his clothes because he was upset he'd cheated on his wife.
He continued that he'd gone back to find her at 2.25am the next morning because he was worried about her but she'd gone and he assumed she'd returned home.
In his opening defence speech, Mr Saxby said he will call two witnesses, both students, who heard screams in the early hours of February 1, 2019.
Mr Saxby said Relowicz had already returned home at the time the witnesses said they heard the screams, and so he “cannot be guilty of killing Libby Squire”.
But then he went back to find her. We cannot assume that he is telling the truth about what time he went back. He probably wanted seconds, or decided that she needed to die before she could id him.
The case continues.
Seoul court says life-size sex dolls don't corrupt morals, allows imports
By Yonhap News Agency
Sex dolls also made headlines in Seoul in May when they were used to fill seats for a soccer match during the COVID-19 pandemic. That incident was described as a misunderstanding. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Seoul court has allowed the import of life-size dolls, saying such sex toys for personal use do not corrupt public morals.
According to the Seoul Administrative Court on Monday, it has recently overturned a decision by Gimpo International Airport's customs office to block the import of a mannequin.
In January 2020, a local company tried to import one sex doll from China through the airport in Gimpo, western Seoul. But the gateway's customs authorities put the entry on hold, saying that the material would harm public morals.
It took legal action against the decision as its petition to the Korea Customs Service has been shelved.
"We don't see this item as explicitly depicting body parts or sexual conduct that it gravely damages or distorts human dignity," the administrative court said in its ruling. "It is not an example of materials that corrupt public morals."
It said sex toys are used in a personal area and the state should not interfere with one's private life to protect dignity and freedom.
So, now, what about child sex dolls? By the reasoning articulated above, it seems unreasonable to label child sex dolls as corrupting public morals. I guess we will find out soon enough.
The customs office said it will file an appeal against the court decision, saying that it is still keeping the stance of not permitting their customs clearance.
But the agency added it is in talks with the justice and gender equality ministries over the permissible standard of importing sex dolls as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a sex doll importer in a separate clearance deferral case in June 2019.
The ruling had sparked a heated debate on whether sex dolls should be treated as a type of ordinary sex toy. Between July and August of that year, over 200,000 people agreed with the petition on the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae's website, asking for an import ban on sex dolls.
Vancouver police officer 'overtly perpetrated a fraud'
during sex trafficking trial, lawyer tells court
Convicted pimp Reza Moazami says former detective James Fisher's misconduct
amounts to abuse of process
Bethany Lindsay · CBC News
Posted: Jan 26, 2021 4:38 PM PT
Former VPD detective James Fisher testified that he helped young women leave the sex trade, but the B.C. Court of Appeal has heard arguments that he 'did the exact opposite of that.' (CBC)
A former Vancouver detective openly and deliberately deceived a B.C. judge during a high-profile sex trafficking trial, the lawyer for a notorious pimp argued in court on Tuesday.
Thomas Arbogast told a panel of B.C. Court of Appeal justices that James Fisher misrepresented his job as an investigator with the VPD's Counter Exploitation Unit during a hearing in the trial of violent pimp Reza Moazami.
"Mr. Fisher overtly perpetrated a fraud on the court by portraying his duties as an officer with the CEU in this way," Arbogast said.
During a 2013 voir dire in Moazami's trial, Fisher testified that his role with the CEU involved rescuing trafficking victims from exploitation and helping sex workers leave the industry.
But, Arbogast said, "Mr Fisher did the exact opposite of that."
Evidence taken from text messages and victims' statements to police suggest that Fisher was actively helping young women continue in sex work, giving them advice about pimps they might work for and even tipping off a young madam about a planned police raid on her business, the court has heard.
Text messages entered into evidence also show Fisher speaking to one of the women about his idea for a phone app that would alert sex workers about bad johns, Arbogast told the court.
He said while that sounds like a good idea, "having an officer from CEU initiate that type of conversation is indicative of someone who is completely unmoored from their duties."
'Red flags' should have prompted exhaustive investigation into Vancouver detective, lawyer argues
Fisher pleaded guilty in 2018 to sexual exploitation and breach of trust for kissing a 21-year-old victim in Moazami's case as well as a 17-year-old girl who'd been exploited by another pimp, Michael Bannon.
But Moazami's legal team alleges that Fisher's sexual and professional misconduct was much more extensive, involving nine of 11 victims and two witnesses in the Crown's case against Moazami.
Moazami is asking the appeals court to order a new trial in his case, arguing that Fisher's misconduct amounted to an abuse of process and miscarriage of justice.
Arbogast said Tuesday he could only speculate about how the trial would have been affected if Fisher's misconduct was uncovered at the time but suggested a mistrial could have been declared.
"We have conduct here that it is so egregious that it transgresses any concept of fair play and decency," Arbogast said.
Reza Moazami is arguing that James Fisher's misconduct interfered with his right to a fair trial. (CBC)
Crown counsel Matthew Scott, however, told the court it would be "indecent and unjust" to overturn Moazami's convictions.
"Mr. Moazami was convicted on the basis of the complainants' evidence, not Mr. Fisher's evidence," Scott said.
He argued that Moazami's legal team "has not tendered any admissible evidence at all," saying it is largely based on hearsay and most of the alleged misconduct took place after those involved had testified in Moazami's trial.
Fisher's Facebook activity 'simply was not pursued'
For much of Tuesday's hearing, Arbogast focused on evidence from Facebook that was not available to the defence team during Moazami's trial.
He said it appears Fisher had at least two Facebook accounts — one under the name James Fisher that he described as a professional page, and another under the name Jim Fisher that he used to communicate with victims and witnesses in his cases.
Text messages suggest Fisher asked at least one young woman to delete their Facebook conversations when he realized he was under investigation.
And yet it appears that during that investigation, VPD officers did not look into Fisher's Facebook use.
"Nothing was ever done about those accounts … It simply was not pursued by the investigators," Arbogast said.
Justice John Hunter asked Arbogast if there was any evidence Fisher had used his Facebook accounts to improperly influence the testimony of victims and witnesses.
Arbogast replied that his team has not been able to access records of Fisher's communications on Facebook, which has been "a source of considerable frustration" for Moazami. The Crown has said it does not have the relevant records, either.
"We're saying a fair remedy is to order a new trial here so this matter can be explored appropriately," Arbogast said. "We feel like we're being put in a position with respect to Facebook of arguing with one hand behind our backs."
Hearings in Moazami's appeal continue on Wednesday morning.
Former Vancouver Police detective sent to jail for sex-related crimes (5th story on link)
Finally:
Malka Leifer, the former girls' school principal accused of child sex abuse, finally brought back to Melbourne to face charges
AAP
Tuesday, 26 January 2021 11:50 AM
The former principal of a Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne is close to completing her long-awaited extradition from Israel to face child sexual abuse charges.
Malka Leifer is expected to touch down at Melbourne airport aboard a connecting flight from Singapore as early as Wednesday.
It will be the first time she’s set foot on Australian soil since 2008 when she fled to Israel after learning three of her former students intended to file a complaint with police.
Leifer will go into hotel quarantine for 14 days once she returns to Melbourne. It is believed she could virtually appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court as early as this week for an initial hearing.
As is her right, Leifer will be entitled to apply for bail.
The flight is the final leg of Leifer’s extradition which saw her board a Frankfurt-bound plane at Tel Aviv on Monday, just hours before the closure of Israel’s airports due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pictures published by local media showed Leifer about to board a flight wearing handcuffs and legcuffs.
Credit: 7NEWS
She is wanted in Australia on 74 charges of child rape and sexual abuse stemming from her time as principal at Melbourne’s Orthodox Addas Israel School.
The Victorian government on Tuesday welcomed Leifer’s extradition.
“Our position has always been clear - Malka Leifer needs to return to Victoria to face these very serious allegations,” a spokeswoman said. “Our thoughts are with the people who have continued to advocate for her return and we acknowledge how significant this next step is for them.”
“As this matter is before the courts, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
Sisters Dassi Erlich (2nd left) Nicole Meyer (centre) and Elly Sapir (2nd right) who are victims of Malka Leifer depart a press conference in Melbourne, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. Credit: JAMES ROSS/AAPIMAGE
Longtime victim supporter Manny Waks said it was unclear how long her case would take to progress through Victoria’s legal system given its COVID-driven backlog.
“We expect that Leifer’s return to Australia will impact many people,” the chief executive of victim support group VoiCSA said in a statement. “VoiCSA remains committed to helping anyone who may have been sexually abused by Leifer.”
Israel’s Supreme Court approved her extradition order in December and Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn approved the order the following day.
In a tweet, Mr Nissenkorn wrote: “I promised that I would not hinder the extradition order, and that’s what I have done. Malka Leifer’s victims will finally earn an act of justice.”
Leifer’s final failed appeal followed 74 hearings in Israeli courts, which have been drawn out on the basis of her mental illness claims.
She fled Australia to Israel in 2008 when the allegations arose, using a plane ticket allegedly paid for by the Addas School.
Leifer was first arrested in Israel in 2014 and placed under house arrest, only to be freed again on the condition she undertook psychiatric assessments.
Following an independent undercover investigation that proved she was feigning mental illness and going about her life as normal, Leifer was arrested again in 2018.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said it was a “travesty” it had taken so long for Leifer to return. “While it’s a relief that Israel’s justice system has finally prevailed, the time and process that resulted in these delays are completely unacceptable,” he added.
Father of girl raped by teenage cousin criticises 'chronic' underfunding
of child sexual abuse services
The Journal
8 hours ago
THE FATHER OF a young girl who was raped by her cousin has criticised the “chronic lack” of government funding for a charity that supports victims of child sexual abuse.
The girl’s father was speaking at the sentencing of his 16-year-old nephew, who admitted sexually assaulting and raping his cousin on dates between December 2017 and May 2019 when she was aged between eight and nine and the perpetrator was aged 13 and 14.
Lawyers for the accused told the Central Criminal Court that a Probation Services assessment identified that the boy’s pathway to offending was the viewing of adult pornography on his mobile phone at an early age.
The boy’s pathway to offending was
the viewing of adult pornography
Brendan Grehan SC said that there is “an epidemic in it’s own right of young boys accessing pornography and then acting it out in inappropriate ways”.
The abuse emerged in May 2019 when the victim became upset one day and told her mother that her cousin had touched her. Gardaí were called in and child specialist interviewers spoke to the girl.
When the boy’s parents asked him about the allegations, he admitted that he had shown her videos of adult pornography and he became upset and made to try to stab himself in the stomach.
He was crying and kept telling his parents: “I’m guilty, I’m a paedophile and the guards should just lock me up”.
The girl told gardaí that the boy would force her to engage in sexual acts with him and said she didn’t like it and “it wasn’t nice”.
She said sometimes the boy would get cross if she said she didn’t want to do things and he would tell her “you have to, there’s no way of getting out of it”.
She said that she had wanted to be his friend but that sometimes he would be very strict and “horrible” towards her.
Referring to her cousin she told gardaí: “I’m really angry at him but I still love him”.
The boy pleaded guilty to the rape of the girl at his home in Co Dublin and to sexual assault by engaging with oral sex with her at her home in another county.
He also pleaded guilty to causing a child to watch sexual activity.
Lack of government funding
In his victim impact report, the victim’s father said he wished to thank gardaí and the CARI Foundation for their support and help.
He said because of the “chronic lack of government funding”, CARI has a long waiting list and it was 15 months before his daughter could get an appointment.
He said it is “a sorry reflection of modern Ireland” that the government cannot give more support to such organisations.
He said that in May 2019, he learned that “an evil monster” had groomed his little girl and made her perform unspeakable vile acts against her will.
He said he and his wife now realised the reason for the erosion they had already observed in their daughter’s sense of fun and confidence.
He said during a medical examination at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit his daughter trembled with fear and she has suffered “blind panic attacks filled with terror”.
The guilty boy sat in the docks with his parents and throughout the hearing on Monday afternoon each of them could be seen crying as they listened to the evidence.
Counsel for the defence read a letter written by the boy to his cousin in which he apologised repeatedly for his actions and the resultant harm.
“I took advantage of you and abused that. You must hate me. That’s ok. I hope you are getting support.
“I can’t put into words how much I feel ashamed. I really messed up. Every night I pray this is all a dream. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how much pain this would cause.
“I should never have looked at those videos online. I’m miserable, not because I got caught, I deserve that, but because I have caused so much hurt.”
In a letter, the boy’s mother said she stills get angry at him for what he did and the hurt and heartbreak he has caused, but added that she is not going to abandon her son.
“I worry for him as he walks about wanting to go to sleep and never wake up,” she said.
She described him as the light and soul of our home and a caring, emotional, affectionate child.
The boy has engaged with sex offender therapy since the offending emerged and counsel for the defence outlined how his initial attempts to minimise his offending has since developed to insight of the harm he has caused.
Justice Michael White said he needed time to consider the evidence and various professional reports handed into court. He adjourned sentencing to 23 February next.
The easy availability of pornography to adolescent males is, in my humble opinion, largely responsible for the 'rape culture' that runs through western schools and colleges. It contributes greatly to the global approach to Sodom that will signal the return of Christ in judgment.
Ireland is decades behind other western cultures in the treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators. They seem to be moving forward, but must surely know this will be very expensive as every victim will need years of psychological treatment to overcome the trauma.
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