Spain’s socialist government has promised to introduce a new ‘only yes means yes’ sexual consent law to remove any ambiguities in rape cases.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday that consent would have to be explicit. It states that “yes means yes” and anything else, including silence, means no. Sex without explicit consent will be considered rape under the new law. Currently sexual abuse or assault is not considered rape in Spain unless violence and intimidation are involved.
The move comes after five men accused of gang-raping an 18-year-old woman in Pamplona during the bull running festival.
Spain’s deputy prime minister and equality minister Carmen Calvo Poyato said proposing the new law: “If a woman does not expressly say yes, then everything else is no.”
The la manada victim wrote in a letter to a Spanish TV station: “Don’t keep quiet about it because if you do you’re letting them win. No one should have to go through this. No one should have to regret having a drink, talking to people at a fiesta, walking home alone or wearing a miniskirt.”
> Shiuly Rina
The Government of Spain Vows to Introduce ‘Yes Means Yes’ Sexual Consent Law
