As Spain's 'only yes is yes' law comes into force today, the answer to one question remains unclear...
Under the new law, there are some important changes to the jail sentences handed down by the courts for sexual assault
After years of intense social debate over equality and feminism, the Spanish government's new Law for the Integral Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, also nicknamed the ‘Only yes is yes’ law, has come into force today, Friday 7 October. The main feature of this new legislation is the need for consent before sexual relations take place.
Some of the points in the new law have raised doubts among the legal profession and on Thursday the College of Lawyers in Malaga organised a training session to look at some of the most important details.
Under the new law, anyone found guilty of an act that infringes on the sexual freedom of another person without that person’s consent can be jailed for between one and four years.
The text also says that 'When the sexual aggression consists of access by vaginal, anal or oral means, or the introduction of bodily members or objects by any of the first two means, the person responsible will be considered a rapist and this will entail a prison sentence of four to twelve years.
The question is, what is consent? The law says consent is only understood to exist ‘when it has been freely expressed through acts which, in view of the circumstances of the case, clearly express the will of the person’.
Criminal lawyer Rafael Ramos, who led the session, considers this definition an “indeterminate legal concept”. Although until now legislation has never referred to consent as such, he maintains that it will continue to be up to judges to decide whether or not there really was such consent in sexual intercourse.
"This law has very good intentions, but I doubt that it will mean a before and an after when it comes to avoiding cases which occur in privacy," he said and he believes we will have to wait for future rulings to see how the law is interpreted.
Changes to prison sentences
The ‘only yes is yes’ law also makes some important changes to the sentences for sexual assault. The crime of sexual abuse no longer exists: all such cases are now considered sexual assault.
Sexual assault where penetration does not take place will now be punished by a jail sentence of between one and four years instead of one and five. If penetration is involved, the sentences will be from four to 12 years instead of six and 12, and a new offence called attenuated sexual assault will result in either a year’s imprisonment or a fine paid monthly over 18 to 23 months.
Under the new law, Rafael Ramos explained, chemical submission is included as an aggravating factor, and people who address others with sexual or sexist expressions, behaviour or proposals will be accused of the offence of street harassment. Specialist courts will also be created to deal with these types of crime.
The issue of prostitution was left out of this law, because PSOE and Unidas Podemos, the coalition partners in the Spanish government, could not reach agreement over which aspects should be included.
