Girl faces fine for protecting herself against sexual assault

Pepper-spraying a man who tried to pull down her trousers may cost 17-year-old girl dearly

A 17-year-old girl in Sønderborg has found herself in violation of the arms act for using pepper spray on an English-speaking man who tried to pull down her trousers.

The girl notified police in southern Jutland police that she had been sexually assaulted across the street from the Sønderborg cultural and community centre, the Sønderborghus.

She said that an English-speaking man unbuttoned her trousers and tried to get them off.

The girl then pulled out a pepper spray and frightened off her assailant.

Guilty of self-protection
Now the girl is facing charges for defending herself.

“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will probably be charged,” local police head Knud Kirsten told TV SYD.

The girl’s report to the police comes in the wake of several incidents in Sønderborg, in which some asylum-seekers from the local asylum centre have found it difficult to behave properly towards women while out on the town.

It is unknown whether the man who allegedly violated the 17-year-old girl is an asylum-seeker.