Spain toughened its legislation against sexual violence, establishing the obligation of explicit consent, a minority measure in Europe that the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez championed after the gang rape of a young woman.
Known as the “only yes is yes” law, the new norm “comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom” was approved by Congress this Thursday by 205 votes in favor and 141 against.
The text, which implies a reform of the Spanish Penal Code, places “consent” at the center, which will only be understood “when it has been freely expressed through acts that (…) clearly express the will of the person.”
The use of violence or intimidation will therefore no longer be necessary to classify a crime of rape, as was the case until now.
“Finally our country recognizes by law that consent is what has to be at the center of all our sexual relations,” Irene Montero, Minister of Equality of the Pedro Sánchez government, congratulated herself at the gates of Congress.
– “The pack” –
This issue was key in the case of “La Manada”, the gang rape in 2016 of an 18-year-old girl during the San Fermín festivities in Pamplona (north) by five men who recorded the events, boasting of their actions, and then shared the images on WhatsApp.
The sentence in the first instance, in April 2018, was nine years in prison for the crime of “sexual abuse”. Defined by the absence of violence or intimidation, this crime, which carried less stringent penalties, will now disappear with the new law.
That first sentence caused massive mobilizations of women in Spain under the slogan “I do believe you”, in addition to numerous requests to toughen the Penal Code.
Outside the country, the case generated large feminist mobilizations in Chile.
Finally, in June 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court corrected the sentence and considered that there was rape, for which it increased the sentences for the accused to 15 years in prison.
Since coming to power in June 2018, the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez has promised to adopt a law on explicit consent.
The regulation also contemplates street harassment as a crime, develops sex-affective education at school and reinforces care and compensation for victims of sexual violence.
This law that reinforces resources against sexual violence was “expected and desired,” Marisa Soleto, president of the Women’s Foundation, one of the most influential feminist organizations, told AFP in July.
“What we hope is that it promotes a change in social behavior”, even “beyond Spain”, he said.
– Minority notion in Europe –
On the issue of consent, the government claimed that it was directly inspired by the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe, an international treaty adopted in 2011 that establishes norms to combat gender-based violence.
Irene Montero, the Minister of Equality, of the radical left party Podemos, a minority partner of the Socialists in the government of Pedro Sánchez, acknowledged having inspired her drafting in a pioneering Swedish law that considers rape any sexual act without an explicit agreement since 2018.
According to a 2020 Amnesty International study, 12 out of 31 European countries analyzed define rape from lack of consent, beyond coercion or vulnerability, including Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Germany, for example, tightened its legislation in 2017 to make lack of consent the sole criterion for defining rape.
Spain has been an international leader in the fight against sexual violence since it adopted a pioneering law in 2004 that prominently introduced the gender difference as an aggravating factor in violence.
1 comment
Spain toughened its legislation against sexual violence, establishing the obligation of explicit consent, a minority measure in Europe that the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez championed after the gang rape of a young woman.
Known as the “only yes is yes” law, the new norm “comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom” was approved by Congress this Thursday by 205 votes in favor and 141 against.
The text, which implies a reform of the Spanish Penal Code, places “consent” at the center, which will only be understood “when it has been freely expressed through acts that (…) clearly express the will of the person.”
The use of violence or intimidation will therefore no longer be necessary to classify a crime of rape, as was the case until now.
“Finally our country recognizes by law that consent is what has to be at the center of all our sexual relations,” Irene Montero, Minister of Equality of the Pedro Sánchez government, congratulated herself at the gates of Congress.
– “The pack” –
This issue was key in the case of “La Manada”, the gang rape in 2016 of an 18-year-old girl during the San Fermín festivities in Pamplona (north) by five men who recorded the events, boasting of their actions, and then shared the images on WhatsApp.
The sentence in the first instance, in April 2018, was nine years in prison for the crime of “sexual abuse”. Defined by the absence of violence or intimidation, this crime, which carried less stringent penalties, will now disappear with the new law.
That first sentence caused massive mobilizations of women in Spain under the slogan “I do believe you”, in addition to numerous requests to toughen the Penal Code.
Outside the country, the case generated large feminist mobilizations in Chile.
Finally, in June 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court corrected the sentence and considered that there was rape, for which it increased the sentences for the accused to 15 years in prison.
Since coming to power in June 2018, the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez has promised to adopt a law on explicit consent.
The regulation also contemplates street harassment as a crime, develops sex-affective education at school and reinforces care and compensation for victims of sexual violence.
This law that reinforces resources against sexual violence was “expected and desired,” Marisa Soleto, president of the Women’s Foundation, one of the most influential feminist organizations, told AFP in July.
“What we hope is that it promotes a change in social behavior”, even “beyond Spain”, he said.
– Minority notion in Europe –
On the issue of consent, the government claimed that it was directly inspired by the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe, an international treaty adopted in 2011 that establishes norms to combat gender-based violence.
Irene Montero, the Minister of Equality, of the radical left party Podemos, a minority partner of the Socialists in the government of Pedro Sánchez, acknowledged having inspired her drafting in a pioneering Swedish law that considers rape any sexual act without an explicit agreement since 2018.
According to a 2020 Amnesty International study, 12 out of 31 European countries analyzed define rape from lack of consent, beyond coercion or vulnerability, including Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Germany, for example, tightened its legislation in 2017 to make lack of consent the sole criterion for defining rape.
Spain has been an international leader in the fight against sexual violence since it adopted a pioneering law in 2004 that prominently introduced the gender difference as an aggravating factor in violence.