Swedish Appeals Court Overturns Trans Rape Acquittal

In a case that horrified trans women around the world,  a 61 year old cis man was acquitted of brutally attempting to rape a 61 year old trans woman in July because in the words of the judge she still had male genitalia.

The attempted rape happened last summer.  The trans woman was visiting her ex-boyfriend when the rapist violently attacked her in front of his apartment building.  He tore off the victim's pants and grabbed at her crotch before discovering she didn't have the genital configuration he was expecting. 

The attack was foiled by the victims ex-boyfriend and the attacker was arrested.  

However, the attacker was acquitted in July of the attempted rape charges by the Örebro District Court, which deemed the allegations to be “invalid” and instead convicted for assault, sentenced to four months in prison and ordering to pay 15,000 kronor ($2,161) in damages to the victim..
“The intended crime never had the possibility of being fulfilled,” explained Judge Dan Sjöstedt to local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda at the time of the acquittal.
And I guess Judge Sjöstedt you haven't heard about how many rapes occur in prisons these days?

The victim appealed the jacked up ruling, and on Monday, the Göta Court of Appeal threw out the assault conviction and instead convicted the attacker of attempted rape, Sveriges Television (SVT) reported.

While the appeals court problematically agreed with the district court's ruling that the rape could never have been fully consummated because the trans feminine victim had a penis, the court found that the cis male attacker intended to carry out the rape.   Furthermore, the victim "looked like and dressed completely like a woman" and as a result, the rape attempt "is worth taking seriously".

"Looked like and dressed completely like a woman."  Um hello, she's a transwoman that has been on hormones and living her life for several years.       You damn skippy a sexual assault aimed at a trans woman is worth taking seriously because rape is rape.  

With the conviction, the man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay compensation of 40,000 kronor ($6,000). 

"It's a relief to get a conviction; the punishment is in line with what I had asked for," prosecutor Eva Grandestedt told SVT.  "This ruling shows that you can convicted for attempted rape regardless of the gender identity of the victim."

Which is what should have happened in the first place.