Top female judge says it’s a woman’s right to get drunk, but begs drunk girls to better protect themselves against rapists

One of Britain’s top female judges bowed out from the bench today with a final warning that drunk women make themselves targets for rapists.

She made the comments as she jailed a rapist for six years for an assault on a drunk girl he met in Burger King in Manchester city centre last year. In a passionate speech Lindsey Kushner QC said: “We judges who see one sexual offence trial after another, have often been criticised for suggesting and putting more emphasis on what girls should and shouldn’t do than on the act and the blame to be apportioned to rapists.

“There is absolutely no excuse and a woman can do with her body what she wants and a man will have to adjust his behaviour accordingly. But as a woman judge I think it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention one or two things. I don’t think it’s wrong for a judge to beg women to take actions to protect themselves. That must not put responsibility on them rather than the perpetrator.

“How I see it is burglars are out there and nobody says burglars are OK but we do say ‘please don’t leave your back door open at night, take steps to protect yourselves’. Women are entitled to do what they like but please be aware there are men out there who gravitate towards a woman who might be more vulnerable than others. That’s my final line, in my final criminal trial, and my final sentence.”

The 64-year-old said while all women were entitled to “drink themselves into the ground” their “disinhibited behaviour” while drunk puts them in danger of being raped by men who “gravitate” towards drunk girls. She claims drunken women are a target because rapists assume they’re less likely to fight them off and less likely to report the crime.

She made the final comments at the end of a case which concerned an 18-year-old girl being raped on a canal bank after a night of heavy drinking. A passer-by who witnessed the attack called the police, who arrested Ricardo Rodrigues-Gomes nearby. He was sentenced to six years in prison. The victim, who was due to attend Salford University, said she felt like she’d “lost an entire year of my life and as a result of what happened.”

Charities have attacked Kushner for the comments which they accuse of being “victim blaming” and likely to discourage rape victims from coming forward in future.