Father’s day has gone south for a prominent lawyer who blamed women for upskirting

A prominent lawyer is blaming women for upskirting, saying they should take more responsibility for what they wear. His comments left his daughter seriously unimpressed, and she took to Twitter to take issue with him.
Upskirting
On 15 June, Conservative MP Christopher Chope managed to block a private members’ bill that would make upskirting a criminal offence. He was widely condemned, with Wera Hobhouse – the Labour MP and sponsor of the bill – calling his behaviour “outrageous”.
Lawyer Nick Freeman, meanwhile, thinks that women need to take some of the blame:
Whilst this is totally unacceptable conduct, if women
assumed some responsibility for their attire, they would not be in jeopardy. Prosecutions will only utilise valuable police and CPS
resources that should be prioritised elsewhere. #upskirting https://t.co/dkUGnIVCpV— Nick Freeman (@TheMrLoophole) June 15, 2018
Read on...
Victimising men
Nick Freeman – aka ‘Mr Loophole’ – is a millionaire lawyer who specialises in getting celebrity clients off drink-driving and motoring offences. He also has a history of victim-blaming. In an article on a ‘slut walk’ in Manchester in 2011, he said:
I abhor rape and attacks on women and, believe me, as a criminal defence lawyer, I’ve been involved with plenty of cases where those who have been dressed in a perfectly conventional way were still victims of this heinous crime.
I also strongly believe that yes is yes and no is no. But, in the real world, a woman who behaves or dresses in a sexually provocative way conveys a certain message. A message that, ironically, can victimise men.
In case anyone was wondering, he went on to explain he’d been “victimised” at the age of 19 when a woman wearing a “skimpy dress” decided she didn’t want to have sex with him.
Twitter takedown
Freeman’s tweet about upskirting sparked this response from his daughter:
Get real dad – what an ignorant and thoughtless comment. Upskirting can quite easily happen even when women dress conservatively… but the responsibility still lies with the woman? This is for sure one of the top 3 stupidest comments you’ve ever made. #EngageBrainAndReassess
— Sophie Freeman (@SophieOFreeman) June 16, 2018
But instead of addressing her well-made point, he simply took issue with her grammar:
Sophie, firstly it's most stupid and not stupidest. Secondly, please read the articles in the Press which amplify my views.
— Nick Freeman (@TheMrLoophole) June 16, 2018
#DontBanSkirtsBanCreeps
Other Twitter users were equally scathing:
How about men don't take photos up a woman's skirt and we save valuable police and CPS resources that way. It's just a thought but it might work. #dontbanskirtsbancreeps
— Susan (@suziewong79) June 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/TraceyH100/status/1007769662329901057
https://twitter.com/bridget_pants/status/1007945006668304384
Tonight my girlfriends and I are going out wearing whatever we want. Because we can. Because we like nice clothes and shoes. Because we have choices. Men who ‘upskirt’ also have choices – they can choose NOT to be predatory sex pests. THEIR behaviour is the problem, not ours.
— ProfElizabethYardley (@ProfLizYardley) June 16, 2018
I think my eyes just rolled out of my head. I would bend down to pick them up but I’m not wearing my pantaloons today 🤷🏻♀️🙄
— Connie Smith (@connie_robin) June 17, 2018
Did you actually mean to type ‘women are responsible for upskirting because they wore a skirt’ or did you just sneeze and press an unfortunate combination of keys on your keyboard?
— Vikki (@TetchyBitch) June 15, 2018
Thankfully, the Christopher Chopes and Nick Freemans of this world are outnumbered by those who can recognise abusive behaviour when they see it. Freeman has been well and truly taken down. And not only by his daughter, but by the whole of Twitter.
Get Involved!
– Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
Featured image via screenshot
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?