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Women around the world are showing their support of a rape victim whose alleged perpetrator was acquitted in an Irish court earlier this month.
The 27-year-old accused was acquitted after the defence presented the 17-year-old victim's thong as evidence.
CNN reported that the jury declared the defendant not guilty of raping the 17-year-old, when the defence – Elizabeth O'Connell – asked the court and the jurors to take into account the underwear that the teenage girl was wearing at the time.
The defence lawyer presented the thong, stating: "You have to look at the way she was dressed," as reported by CBC news.
"She was wearing a thong with a lace front."
The defence suggested that the thong implied that the victim had granted consent, which sparked an outcry of victim blaming and victim shaming across social media.
Angry protests
The Telegraph reported that hundreds of people marched through Irish cities in protest against the defence lawyer's tactic to use a piece of clothing to justify rape.
Around 200 protesters marched through Cork to lay underwear on the doorsteps of the court house where the trial took place.
Meanwhile, women from around the world began posting pictures of their thongs with the hashtag #ThisIsNotConsent.
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