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Justice: Spain: Controversial sex criminal law is being reformed

Justice: Spain: Controversial sex criminal law is being reformed

The Spanish government is threatened with a coalition crisis. The reason is the new sexual criminal law, which unintentionally led to milder penalties and early release.

Due to unexpected effects, the new sex criminal law in Spain is changed again after only four months. The left-wing government introduced a reform proposal to parliament in Madrid.

The “Only yes means yes” law, which was supposed to make it easier to convict sex offenders and better protect women, has also led to reduced sentences and the early release of sex offenders in recent months, contrary to the intentions of the legislature. This sparked fear and a storm of indignation across the country.

Since the beginning of October, judges have reduced the sentences of more than 400 incarcerated offenders following the enactment of the rulebook, which set lower minimum sentences in some cases. Dozens of sex criminals were released earlier than expected – including a 39-year-old man in Lleida, Catalonia, who raped 17 women and whose sentence was reduced from 15 to 9 years.

Crisis looms among coalition partners

The unwanted effects of the law put the government in trouble, and the opposition sensed the dawn before the parliamentary elections at the end of the year. Now there is also a risk of a crisis in the coalition between the Socialists (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and junior partner Unidas Podemos (UP) of Equality Minister Irene Montero – because the PSOE introduced the reform proposal without having previously reached an agreement with UP.

Montero therefore fears that the PSOE could give in to the demands of the conservative opposition in the forthcoming debates and accept a return to the old way of life: “We don’t want a return to a patriarchal system in which, as a victim, you were asked whether you were walking properly had closed.” However, PSOE parliamentary group spokesman Patxi López rejected such fears and asserted that the principle of the consent of all those involved in sexual acts would not be deviated from.

The law also criminalized “intimidating” compliments and the distribution of sex tapes. With this initiative, the government responded to several cases of gang rape last year in which the perpetrators got off with relatively light sentences. Montero had said that the “rape culture” would be put to an end.

Source: Stern

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