The Spanish Congress approved this Thursday a bill that reforms the Penal Code to eliminate the distinction between abuse and sexual assaultmakes express consent the key to judging sexual crimes and guarantees comprehensive care for victims.
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Several amendments incorporated in the parliamentary process consider advertising that contributes to promoting prostitution to be illegal, and recognize the right to reside and work for victims of sexual violence in an irregular situation, within the framework of the exceptional authorizations contained in the law of foreigner.
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It also includes the right to receive aid for the mothers of minors murdered by their partners or ex-partners, as victims of vicarious violence, and shields the financing of the measures included in the State Pact against gender violence by establishing that the Government must approve the necessary budget items.
Another of the amendments establishes that minors who commit sexual crimes will have the obligation to carry out training programs on sexual education and gender equality.
The norm, which now passes to the Senate, obtained this Thursday 201 votes in favormostly from Basque and Catalan leftist and nationalist and pro-independence parties, and 140 against the opposition of conservatives and the extreme right.
The so-called “only yes is yes” law, alluding to express consent in sexual relationsis a legislative project of the Ministry of Equality, directed by Irene Montero, of the Podemos party.
Thus, any sexual relationship without consent will be aggression, whether or not there is violence or intimidation; This issue became relevant with the case of the Pack, five young people first sentenced to 9 years in prison each for sexual abuse committed against an 18-year-old woman in 2016, although later the Supreme Court considered it rape and raised the sentence to 15 years.
“Sexual freedom, at last, is going to be a right in our country, and we are going to change violence for freedom and fear for desire”Minister Montero sentenced during the debate in Congress.
He warned that women’s sexual freedom will be a reality, despite the “reactionary noise” of the extreme right, the aggressors and “patriarchal justice.”
The socialist deputy Laura Berja stressed that this is a fight of the feminist movement and it is “a good law” because it responds to victims of sexual violence and changes the Penal Code so that women do not have to shout in the street again that ” It’s not abuse, it’s rape.
The conservative Marta González, of the Popular Party, considered that this is not the appropriate law against sexual violence, since “it seems like a slur of an electoral program” of Podemos.
In addition, the law puts the presumption of innocence at risk and it will be the accused who has to prove that there was consent in the sexual relationship, and not the other way around, González assured.
EFE
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