"Krone" commentary

When a twelve-year-old’s “no” doesn’t count

Susanne Wiesinger is a teacher at a hotspot school in Vienna-Favoriten and an author.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

The verdicts were disturbing. Two years ago, several teenagers had abused a then 12-year-old girl. Two of them have already been acquitted. Anna had said no, but in the end she had allowed herself to be persuaded to engage in sexual acts.

I briefly remembered the extremely unpleasant neighbor from my youth. Mrs. Benesch had an urgent need to explain to us girls, without being asked, why rape was happening: "It's those flitscherln's own fault if they go along with everyone." Fortunately, the woman had no children of her own.

Reports claimed that the 17-year-old Syrian teenager had acquired his knowledge about sexuality solely from the internet. However, as his father accompanied him to the trial, the teenager obviously also lives in Austria with a family. This is precisely the point that I am now more concerned about than the verdicts. What image of women was actually conveyed to the young man by his family environment if a 12-year-old's "no" doesn't count?

Incidentally, word of the acquittal has spread like wildfire in the Syrian community. What signal is the Austrian state sending out here? We need to speak objectively but openly about the image that many Muslims have of Western women. Otherwise it will soon be said again: He just didn't know any better.