The Manitoba government is joining in the chorus of complaints about a recent court hearing in which the judge appeared to blame the victim of a sexual assault.

Jennifer Howard, the minister responsible for the status of women, announced on Friday that the province will file a complaint with the Canadian Judicial Complaints Council about remarks made in the sentencing hearing of a man convicted of a severe sexual assault.

"I am concerned that victims in sexual assault cases will fear being blamed for the crimes against them," Howard said in a press release. "When a woman doesn't consent to sex, there are no circumstances that warrant sexual assault or excuse an attacker's behaviour."

The sentencing hearing took place Feb. 18 in Court of Queen's Bench in Thompson. The woman was raped along a highway outside Thompson in 2006. The victim and Kenneth Rhodes, who was convicted in the attack, had met in the parking lot of a bar.

Queen's Bench Justice Robert Dewar handed Rhodes a two-year conditional sentence for the rape, with no jail time.

The judge said the victim and a friend sent signals that "sex was in the air" because of their choice of clothes and flirtatious behavior.

More than 100 people gathered at the Law Courts on Friday protest the judge's comments.

The judge said the victim was sending signals with what she was wearing at the time of the attack, something protesters like Cherrilyn Birchwood say shouldn't have mattered in court.

"I think it's absolutely absurd that you're wearing high heels and makeup that you deserve to be raped," Birchwood said.

Protestors called for the judge to apologize to the victim and all Manitobans.

Protestors said the judge's decision could set a dangerous precedent for future sexual assault cases. They also said they wanted to reinforce the message that "no means no."

Lorraine Parrington, a sexual assault counsellor, said the judge seemed not to understand the severity of the crime.

"The way that he talked about it, he's not getting that this was a crime of violence, this woman was violently raped," Parrington said.

The Canadian Federation of Students say their group is also filing a complaint with the Canadian Judicial Council.

In a news release, the council says it takes the review of all complaints seriously and the complaints against Dewar will be reviewed.

-with a report from CTV's Jillian Taylor