Any sex without express consent will be considered rape in Spain in the future. In this country, the legal situation is much more complicated.
Spain has tightened its anti-rape legislation. The new regulation, known as the “only yes means yes law”, was passed by the parliament in Madrid on Thursday by 205 votes to 141. Accordingly, rape is now defined as “sex without clear consent”.
In the future, women will no longer have to “prove that violence or intimidation was involved” in order for a sexual assault to be classified as such, said Equal Opportunities Minister Irene Montero.
Gang rapes caused great horror in Spain
In recent years, cases of gang rape in Spain have caused great horror and demonstrations. The socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is committed to women’s rights, announced when he took office in 2018 that he would initiate a tightening of sexual criminal law.
The law that has now been passed also tightens the rules on street harassment, expands sex education in schools and strengthens protection and compensation for victims of sexual violence. Marisa Soleto, head of the Women’s Foundation, told AFP news agency that she hoped the law would “change behavior in Spain and beyond”.
Spain is considered a pioneer in the fight against violence against women. As early as 2004, the country had passed the first law in Europe specifically targeting domestic violence. In Germany, on the other hand, the formula is still “No means No”. Marital rape has only been a criminal offense since 1997. This was followed by reforms such as the Violence Protection Act, which came into force in 2002 and which allows violent husbands to be evicted from their homes.
Change in law after the events of New Year’s Eve in Cologne
In 2016, sex criminal law was tightened again. The events at that time around the Cologne New Year’s Eve had fueled the discussion considerably. In Cologne and other German cities, young men molested, groped and robbed women. As a consequence, intrusive groping and sexual attacks from within a group were made criminal offences.
According to the explanatory memorandum of the 2016 law, such sexual offenses are a “new and serious phenomenon” that harbors an “increased risk potential” for victims and has not yet been fully covered by criminal law. According to the motto “No means no”, since then it has no longer been decisive for a conviction that the perpetrator used violence or threatened it, but that he disregarded the will of the victim.
The sentence depends, among other things, on whether the perpetrator inflicted violence on the victim, threatened them and used a weapon. Further demands for a tightening of sexual criminal law – similar to what is now happening in Spain – have so far not been able to win a majority in Germany.
Sources: , AFP
Source: Stern
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