THE SUPREME COURT OF RUSSIA ALLOWED WOMEN TO GO PUBLIC WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT

At the end of January, the Supreme Court of Russia issued an interesting ruling in the case of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation.  The question was about a woman's post on a social network.  In the text of the post, the defendant indicated that some time ago, she was raped by the co-owner of the PrimaMedia media holding, Aleksey Migunov.

Migunov, in turn, filed a lawsuit, claiming that this was not true and thereby defending his good reputation.

The court of the first instance and the appellate instance sided with the plaintiff, while the cassation supported the defendant. As a result, the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court of Russia, which outlined a number of important theses.

In fact, the case concerned a woman's right to go public with the fact of sexual assault.

The lower courts were confused by that the defendant could not confirm the fact of the rape. She did not apply to the police and no criminal case was initiated.

However, the board of the Supreme Court noted that one of the forms of discussion of the problem of sexual violence, which is taboo in society, is the opportunity to share experiences with relatives and the public.

As for the honor and dignity of those whose names may not be presented in the best light in this way, here the Supreme Court called on the courts to examine each specific case in detail.

The Servants of Themis will have to find a fragile balance between a woman's right to speak out about what happened to her on the one hand, and the hurt business reputation of a potential offender on the other hand (resolution No. 56-KG20-12-K9 No. 2-2979 / 2020 dated January 28, 2021).