The amendment of a law against sexual violence divides the Spanish parties

by time news
The protest for the law against sexual violence. /Photo: AFP.

The debate in Spain to amend a law approved last year on sexual violence against women, after it has undesirably led to reduced sentences for those responsible, generates friction within the ruling coalition and with the opposition, but the Experts consider its reformulation necessary since its immediate effects are “extremely painful”.

The Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom -known as “Only yes is yes”- that Eliminates the distinction between abuse and assault, regulates the need for express consent and classifies street harassmentwas approved by Congress in August 2022, despite the rejection of the main opposition bloc, the right-wing Popular Party (PP), and the far-right Vox.

But The regulations reduced the minimum and maximum sentences for some cases, which led many convicts to request a review of the sentence, because in Spain the new laws can be applied retroactively if they benefit the prisoner.

According to Spanish media, about twenty people were released and another 300 received reductions in their sentences.

Given this, The Socialist Party (PSOE) of the head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, presented an amendment to the regulations to Congress on February 6without having previously managed to reach consensus with its minority partners, Unidas Podemos, the force that promoted the original law and that affirms that the problem is the “biased interpretation” of “a minority of judges.”

This law is solid, it is a comprehensive law that addresses sexual violence in an exhaustive manner, and the best way to guarantee its correct application is to provide it with the budgetary and human resources and the necessary political will to implement all its provisions,” they said. to Télam sources from the Ministry of Equalitydirected by United We Can.

The head of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez presented an amendment to the regulations without having previously managed to reach consensus with his minority partners United We Can Photo AFP
The Spanish head of government, Pedro Sánchez, presented an amendment to the regulations, without having previously been able to reach consensus with his minority partners, Unidas Podemos. / Photo: AFP

However, the Spanish lawyer and activist Altamira Gonzalo, former president of the Themis Association of Women Jurists, explained to this agency that “the most critical aspect of the law” is that “it contains a general reduction in sentences for crimes against sexual freedom.”.

“The basic type of article 178 of the new Criminal Code provides for a sentence of 1 to 4 years, when the previous Code provided for 1 to 5 years, while the penalty for the crime of violation of article 179 has gone from 6 to 12 years, to be from 4 to 12 years”, explained the specialist in family law and community law.

What the PSOE proposes is to annul the reduction of sentences, especially the minimum sentencesthe effects of which are being painful for women, since we are observing how many sex offenders are seeing their sentences reduced and some are even being released due to the application of this reduction in sentences,” he said.

On the other hand, from the Ministry of Equality they argued that prior to its approval, the law was evaluated by different ministries and public bodies, so “it is very difficult to think that after all these processes, one can speak of technical failures”.

“There is a minority of judges that is making a biased and, in our opinion, erroneous interpretation of the law, going against the spirit of the norm and against the indications of the State Attorney General’s Office in its application,” they stated.

Along these lines, they specified that many of the rulings “are still under review and are not final judgments” and asked to “wait for official data.”

In the reform of the law that the PSOE presented to Parliament, the sentence increase is linked to the existence of violence or intimidation in sexual assault, a path rejected by United We Can, which considers that this goes against the essence of the norm.

“This law states that, in the face of an assault, the lack of consent must not be proven by the victim, who was forced to go through an ordeal of evidence to prove that he suffered a sexual assault. When we say that the law puts consent in the center, ends with that differentiation between abuse and aggression”, they defended from the Ministry of Equality.

The Equality portfolio stated that it had presented to the PSOE “six reform proposals that affect the idea of ​​implementing the law to make it strong and effective and keep consent at the center.”

In this context, the PP, the main opposition party, took the opportunity to increase the controversy by offering the Socialists parliamentary support to modify the law without having to count on their partners.

For its part, Vox, which last August had described the law as “infamous” because their “goal is not to protect the woman, but to attack the man”, He did not define a position on the reform, but anticipated that he would not block “an initiative that should put an end to the release of sexual offenders”.

From the Ministry of Equality they ask the PSOE to sit down again at the table to resume negotiations, with the requirement not to touch the issue of consent.

We do not believe that a reform supported by the right and the extreme right is beneficial for women’s rights. It is our government partner who must consider whether, in his objective of reforming the criminal part of the law, he is going to approve a reform with the votes of the right and his ultra partners, or prefers to resume dialogue within this coalition government “, they added.

The amendment, which was originally going to be debated in Parliament next week after the PSOE’s attempt to speed up its processing, will finally be addressed on March 7, the eve of Women’s Day.

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