Protests about legal outcome of gang rape in Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thousands took the streets in Madrid to protest over the gang rape ‘Wolf pack’ case. A court acquitted five men of gang rape charges. The rape took place during a bull running festival last year. The protests are because the men only received a 9 year sentence between them and fines, their charges were reduced to sexual abuse rather than rape.  The prosecution had been pushing for a 20 years worth of sentence due to the gravity of the case.

According to a police report, the men promised to walk the woman to her car and then surrounded her and forcibly removed her clothes and had unprotected sex. Some of the men filmed the rape and posted footage on a Wattsapp group bragging about their conquest and sharing the videos. They also stole her phone.  Many argue that if she had consented as the men  claimed they would not have stolen her phone afterwards.  Altamira Gonzalo, vice-president of Themis, a Spanish organisation of women jurists, told Efe news agency: “It should have been a courageous sentence. The courts can’t be so distant from society.”

 Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez tweeted his outrage  “If what the ‘wolfpack’ did wasn’t group violence against a defenceless woman, then what do we understand by rape?”

You can read more about the coverage of this story in The Guardian here. 

Article published in The Guardian commenting on the impact of economic abuse for women and children

 

 

 

 

The Guardian has published an article this week highlighting the far reaching implications of economic abuse. The journalist Louise Tickle focuses on the long term impact economic abuse can have many years after a relationship has ended. She points to how partners can maliciously destroy property resulting in unexpected costs which cannot then be met by victims. It highlights how some abusive partners send damning emails to landlords or employers stifling opportunities to rent property or start a new job. Other cases have come to light which included partners contacting colleges or universities claiming damaging criminal behaviour such as child abuse or criminal activity. This may result in delays to completing courses or women leaving to avoid confrontation.  Additionally, victims may be forced to commit fraud or build up debts destroying future credit ratings. Economic abuse can be seen as another facet of controlling behaviour preventing victims from gaining independence and stifling chances of escape.  The article can be accessed here.

Charities such as Surviving Economic Abuse believe that economic abuse needs tighter regulation in the UK and some call for financial compensation for victims of these types of behaviours saying this should be paid for by the perpetrators themselves.