Government of Spain will modify the law on sexual violence

A law passed last year by the Spanish government tried to toughen the legal arsenal against rape, but reduced the minimum and maximum sentences for those accused of sexual abuse and assault.

It’s all about the law “Only yes is yes”, which considers any sexual activity without explicit consent as an assault. Although his intention was to respond more strongly to the notorious case of the group rape of a young woman by “La Manada” in 2016, left several legal loopholes that the government is now trying to fix.

“We are working technically to make some adjustments to this regulation, which is a law that we are proud of, but that actually has some effects that we did not want and that we are going to try to avoid with these adjustments,” he told public radio RNE the government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez.

Since its approval, many convicts rushed to ask for a review of the sentencea, since in Spain the new laws can be applied retroactively if they benefit the prisoner.

Around 20 convicts have been released and another 300 have received reductions in their sentences, according to Spanish media.

Government sources assure that the reform “does not alter the philosophy of the norm, does not question consent.”

According to the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, “in the modification that we make of the law of only yes is yes, consent will be at the center again. We cannot allow that again in trials with sexual assaults on the table, women are asked if they resisted enough or how they were dressed; Therefore, consent is nuclear both in the current law and in the modification that we make”

Until the law came into force, rape victims had to prove that they had been subjected to violence or intimidation, since without these conditions the crime was considered abuse and not sexual assault, with lighter penalties.

(YO)