The negotiations between the PSOE and United We Can on the reform of the ‘only yes is yes’ law are still underway in order to reach an agreement that pleases both parties. Although they agree on the need to maintain the centrality of consent and increase the penalties, they differ on the way to achieve it.
Despite the fact that this Thursday both the members of United we can as the socialists have confirmed that “no news“in conversations, in the PSOE there is trust that the negotiations advance and the legal initiative can be registered as soon as possible – even before the end of this week, since it could be on Friday – with the support of the two government partners.
However, they do not rule out presenting a bill in Congress unilaterally if the talks with Unidas Podemos do not reach a firm agreement, as warned this Thursday the finance minister, Maria Jesus Montero. The reform negotiations were made public last Monday together with a document proposed by experts from the Ministry of Justice which, among other aspects, proposes resuming the penalties prior to the ‘only yes is yes’ law and increasing the minimum when there is violence or intimidation.
No distinction between abuse and aggression
The Justice proposal once again does not separate the crimes of abuse and aggression. Nor does it remove from the text the consent conceptalthough it does establish determinations in the crime of sexual assault based on whether the aggressor uses the violence, intimidation or annulment of the will of the victim to perpetrate the facts. This means that a sexual assault would be punished with heavier penalties if it is carried out with violence or intimidation, so that these two circumstances would go from being aggravating to being integrated into a new criminal type.
The introduction of violence and intimidation is precisely the biggest stumbling block between government partners. For the Ministry of Equality it means diluting in practice the centrality of consent and “go back to the previous model“, given the position of the victim who should go through the “evidence ordeal” again to demonstrate that the relationships were not consensual.
Equality discard this idea and he assures that since December he has sent up to five proposals to the PSOE to reform the law, in which they open up to “some tweaking” in the minimum sentences.
What do the experts say?
Experts point out that the new reform would only apply to those who commit crimes after its entry into force, while those already convicted could continue to request revisions based on the ‘only yes is yes’ law if it is more beneficial.
Following this premise, Podemos has managed an act for Sunday in Madrid to demand that consent be maintained as the central axis of the norm, which will be attended by the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, and the Minister for Social Rights, Ione Belarra, who will share stage under the motto ‘Did you consent or not? Only yes is yes’.
extension of sentences
The professor of Criminal Law at the University of MalagaPatricia Laurenzoconsiders that including within the crime of sexual assault a type aggravated – that says that if there was violence and intimidation, the penalty is higher – means in practice going back to the previous system and constructing a different crime. As they explained to EFE, the big change in law was to make it clear that the sexual freedom of a person is injured whenever there is a sexual act without their consent, regardless of the means used to break the will of the victim.
“And an aggravated type of sexual assault is created, the penalties will be raised, but the feeling will be given that the annulment of the will of the victim through violence and intimidation constitutes a different fact. The judges will act exactly the same as they acted when there was a crime of abuse and another of aggression. The Violence and intimidation will once again be decisive“, explains Lawrence.
Patricia Laurenzo proposes including violence and intimidation in the list of aggravating circumstances, together with, for example, chemical submission or that aggression is committed in a group, since now only extremely serious violence is included. In any case, she does not share the need to reform the law due to its effects on its application to past events and emphasizes the change in model that the norm entailed.
“The magnitude of the sentence It is not the most important. What there was not before and now there is a comprehensive protection structure for victims”, from early detection protocols to financial aid or free psychological and legal assistance.