Spain passes ‘Only Yes Is Yes’ bill criminalising all non-consensual sex as rape.

1 June 2022 , (New Delhi): After the debate going on for the last 4 years, now an important step has been taken regarding sex crimes in Spain. A bill to bring all forms of non-consensual sex to the category of rape was passed in the lower house of Parliament here on Thursday. This step has been taken in view of the growing social outrage after the Wolf Pack case and the growing movement for women’s rights in Spain.

Claims to make the country safe for women. Now with this law, the government has made preparations to keep the offenses of sexual exploitation and sexual harassment in the category of rape. It has been named ‘Only Yes Is Yes’. It is being told that with this law, the victims will not need to prove violence or resistance. In Congress, Equality Minister Irene Monteiro told lawmakers that the motto is ‘Only yes is yes’ and sisters, I believe that from now on Spain is a free and safe country for all women.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in parliament about the new law – if she says ‘no’ then it means ‘no’ and if she does not say ‘yes’ then it will also mean ‘no’. That is, if a girl or woman does not explicitly say ‘yes’ to sex or remains silent, then in this situation sex with her will be considered as rape. Any sexual contact shall not be treated as rape if the woman has expressly consented to it.

Actually this law has been brought after the ‘Wolf Pack’ case. In the year 2018, 5 people who referred to themselves as ‘Wolf Pack’ were jailed in the gangrape case. It was alleged that in 2016 a young woman was gang-raped during the Pamplona Bull-running Festival. There was a massive protest in Spain against his sentence, which attracted the attention of the whole world. In 2019, on an appeal, the Supreme Court found the five guilty of rape and sentenced them to jail for long years.

By line: Divya Thearia