Spanish fury as men cleared of gang raping 14-year-old victim

● Judges say it was not rape as victim was unconscious at the time of attack

Spaniards are voicing outrage after five men were acquitted of rape on the grounds their 14-year-old victim had been unconscious at the time.

The Barcelona-based court ruled the men were guilty of the lesser crime of sexual abuse and sentenced them to ten to 12 years and fined them €12,000 (£10,357).

A conviction for sexual assault would have carried prison sentences of between 15 and 20 years.

The court ruled on Thursday the men’s act could not be considered sexual assault since the girl was unconscious after consuming alcohol and drugs and so they did not need to use violence or intimidation – a requirement for a rape conviction in Spain.

Spain’s deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said while her government does not comment on court decisions, it has set as a priority a modification in the law to make clear that consent is necessary for sexual relations to occur legally.

The attack occurred in the town of Manresa, near Barcelona, in 2016 when the girl and the men went into an abandoned factory to drink.

The court said since the victim was unconscious during the attack, she “could not accept or reject the sexual relations” and the men “could carry out those sexual relations without the use of violence or intimidation”.

The judges rejected a claim by the accused they were unaware the girl was under 16 and so below the age of consent.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and other left-wing politicians and feminist groups have condemned the ruling, clamouring for the law to be strengthened in the victims’ favour.

“Another senseless verdict by the patriarchal Justice that doesn’t want to understand that only a Yes means Yes,” Ms Colau wrote on Twitter.

“An unconscious 14-yearold girl was gang raped. I am not a judge and I don’t know how many years of prison they deserve, [but] what I do know is that this is not abuse, it is rape.”

Marisa Soleto, from the feminist group Fundacion Mujeres, said “this is just one more piece of proof for the necessity to change the penal code”.

A similar 2017 ruling sparked widespread protests when five men were found guilty of sexually abusing a woman, but acquitted of rape for an attack in Pamplona.

Spain’s Supreme Court later overruled the lower court and convicted them of rape.

That case prompted the then government to announce a review of Spain’s sexual offences legislation.

A series of European countries have changed their laws in recent years to define rape as sex without consent. Sweden changed the law last year and Denmark is following suit.

Women’s rights groups have reacted to the ruling with anger and dismay.

Furious social media users have been commenting on the case under hash tags like Justicia Patriarcal ( Patriarchal Justice) and No es abu so es viol ac ion( It’ s not abuse it’s rape ).

Lila Corominas, a spokeswoman for the Manresa Feminist Strike Committee, told newspaper Nius Diario this was “an obvious case of sexual assault and intimidation”.

Leader of the Más País political party, Íñigo Errejón, said the sentence was “shameful”, while Irene Montero, spokeswoman for Unidas Podemos, called for a change in the law “so we can speak proudly of living in a feminist country”.

Altamira Gonzalo, from the women jurists’ group Themis, has condemned the verdict.

“The Barcelona court continues to believe that women must put up a heroic resistance,” Ms Gonzalo said. “They have taken a benevolent view of men who, with their trousers round their ankles, took turns at raping a 14-year-old girl who, as well as being under the effects of alcohol, was in a situation where she couldn’t defend herself.”