Men cleared of rape despite victim’s pleas ‘to stop’
A Spanish court’s decision to clear two men of rape despite their victim begging them to stop has prompted outrage across the country. The two men, who are uncle and nephew, met their victim in a bar in Viehla.
The three of them went to a nightclub together before they then took her to a backstreet and forced her into having sex without consent. She had pleaded with the men to stop and vomited after the assault, it has been reported.
The woman claims she found herself “paralysed” and was unable to react, shout or resist. She later went to
a health centre where she told staff what had happened, the court’s ruling said, according to Euro Weekly.
As there was no evidence that the woman physically tried to resist the assault, the men were not convicted of rape and instead faced lesser charges of sexual abuse.
They received sentences for four-and-a-half years, more than 10 years shorter than the punishment for rape from a court in Cataluna.
The decision prompted widespread outrage online with one user on Twitter saying: “If you don’t defend yourself, it’s not rape. If you do, they kill you.”
The ruling had striking similarities to “The Wolf Pack”, case where a group of five men in Spain were convicted of sexually assaulting a woman.
Just like the latest ruling the group were cleared of rape charges over the assault, which took place during the Pamplona bull running festival in 2016, but convicted of sexual abuse.
The men, who allegedly boasted about the assault in a WhatsApp group called the Wolf Pack (La manada), were released on bail after two years in custody, sparking mass protests across the country.