The Spanish government’s preferred law, the one that the PSOE and Unidas Podemos assured to go ahead in the 2019 coalition agreement, thanks to which they govern Spain, has brought them nothing but headaches: its application has caused disastrous consequences and the has “adjusted” face to remedy the ills it causes, confronts them, once again more friction as a government partner.
This is the organic law of the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, known as “the law of only yes is yes”: focuses on consentwhich becomes decisive in judging sexual crimes.
The new law stipulates that any sexual act in which consent has not been mediated will be considered sexual assault.
It no longer distinguishes between abuse and aggression e expands punishable behaviors whereas aggression does not need violence or intimidation to be valued as such. Those who have experienced any kind of sexual violence will no longer have to prove that they were victims of violence or that they resisted it.
The provision was celebrated as a crucial achievement of the Ministry of Equality, in the hands of Podemos through its minister, Irene Montero.
“Finally our country recognizes by law that consent is what must be at the heart of all our sexual relationships,” said Minister Montero, main spokesman for the law born as a claim in controversial cases such as that of La Manada, the rape group suffered by a 21-year-old girl during the Sanfermines in 2016.
Advantage for rapists?
What the new law did not provide was that, by changing the scope of some sanctions, the legislation would benefit rapists and sex offenders who may seek review of their convictions and be favored. How did it happen.
The crime of assault, for example, today corresponds to a sentence of four years’ imprisonment, whereas in the previous penal code it was a crime punishable by six years’ imprisonment.
Since the entry into force of the law on the only yes is yes, four months ago, there have been more than 300 sentence reductions in Spain which have caused panic among the victims and concern in society.
“Machismo can lead judges to apply a law incorrectly,” Minister Montero tried to defend himself when the trickle of convicted sex offenders began asking to have their cases reviewed.
Difficult challenge for Pedro Sánchez
From the outset, Podemos’ top management insisted that it was not a question of a standard problem, but of Bad interpretation which some provincial courts and hearings have done.
President Pedro Sánchez, who called the law “a feminist achievement to strengthen women’s safety,” has resisted and tried to keep the new rules intact until now.
But this 2023 will be a huge challenge for him and is not willing to make any missteps. From May there will be municipal, regional and general elections. And the leader of the PSOE aspires to dilute the political cost that the contradictions of the law of the only yes and yes can cause him.
For this reason, government officials and senior party officials have been “leaking” it for days. a “fix” is being worked on. of the rule.
“The best way to defend the law is to make the technical adjustments to prevent these (negative) effects from occurring,” Isabel Rodríguez, Minister of Territorial Policies and government spokeswoman, said Tuesday at the weekly press conference held at the Palacio de la Moncloa after the cabinet meeting every Tuesday.
“The problem was related to the sanctions and, therefore, where these technical works are taking place between (the ministries of) Justice and Equality is precisely in the adaptation, from a legal and technical point of view, so that this decrease in the sentence does not occur and, therefore, those advantages in those who have been convicted of sexual assault,” added the spokeswoman.
The Ministry of Equality has made public its intention to increase some minimum penalties for the most serious crimes, but refuses to “touch or modify” the concept of consent. They consider it the fundamental axis of the new law.
Podemos is also not willing to add clauses that imply the reintroduction of violence and intimidation into the penal code to assess penalties, as the previous law on sexual offenses did, a possibility that the PSOE is considering.
“The PSOE liked this law, Pedro Sánchez liked this law and he said it publicly,” added the former vice president and former leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias.
“A prime minister must have sufficient political stature to keep his word despite media pressure from the right and the extreme right,” Iglesias said.
“Suggest to your partner in government that either you accept what I do, which is to end the law of only yes is yes, which is to betray the women who have demonstrated, or I agree with the PP (People’s Party), well good luck If Pedro Sánchez agrees with the PP, he will pay,” warned the former vice president.
“The government has never thought of touching even a comma when it comes to consensus. Consent is the essence of this standard. It will not be touched. Nor does it hide that it is a complex reform to ensure that these undesirable effects in its application continue to occur ”, the spokesman for the government minister Sánchez remarked on Tuesday.
“It is a deliberate rule, which was inspired by the feminist movement after that sentence (that of La Manada) which completely froze our souls. We protested in the streets and fortunately today it is in the BOE (Official Gazette of the State) to respond to these women, but once it has entered into force, it has been found that in its application these effects have been produced that we do not even want it was the will than the norm”, insisted the minister.
The case of the pack
In 2018, an initial sentence sentenced the five friends who raped the girl in the 2016 Sanfermines to 9 years in prison for sexual abuse. The members of La Manada, however, continued to be released provisionally.
A year earlier, the victim’s statement had been questioned because a private expert report commissioned by the defendants’ defense doubted that the young woman would be able to “lead a normal life” again after the attack she had reported.
The government of Navarre, whose court had condemned La Manada, later challenged the sentence before the Supreme Court.
Demonstrations in favor of the victim and the video “Sister, I believe you” in which dozens of voices supported what the young woman declared and which went viral triggered a public hearing in 2019 in which the Supreme Court sentenced her to 15 years in prison for rape to the five members of La Manada who were immediately arrested.
The Court also found aggravating circumstances for unfair treatment and for having acted in a group.
“This law was approved by the Council of Ministers, spent another year in parliament and received the support of more than 200 deputies between Congress and the Senate. I am convinced that none of those 200 deputies wanted the unwanted vices that are taking place and that have generated a social concern that we, on the government’s side, make our own”. , Félix Bolaños, Tuesday. .
Madrid. Corresponding
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.