N.Y. Bars Rape Defense on Victim’s Attire

Descriptions of the clothing worn by rape victims will no longer be allowed as a defense at trials under a bill signed into New York state law Tuesday.

“Some people still believe that victims actually provoke the rape because of the way they are dressed at the time of the attack,” said state Sen. Michael Tully, sponsor of the bill. He said it was “an embarrassment to the legal system that this law was not already in effect.”

A legislative aide said the law was one of the first of its kind in the nation. It takes effect Nov. 1.