"No" Has Only One Meaning
A verdict has been handed down in the case of the group of five men that gang raped an eighteen-year-old woman in the entrance of an apartment building two years ago during Pamplona's San Fermín festival. Each of the five of La Manada, as they called themselves, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment and compensate the victim with €10,000. The judge declared them guilty of sexual abuse, not sexual aggression, therefore they are not guilty of rape. The reason given is that there was no intimidation nor violence.
Outside the courthouse, howls went up upon hearing the sentence. The bare facts are these: a young girl who had drunk too much found herself with a group of five men who led her into the open entryway of an apartment building. There, they took her clothes off and proceded to rape her, vaginally, anally, and orally, while filming the ordeal with their phones. When they were done with her, they let her go. She was found later on a park bench by a couple, in a state of shock. On top of the rape, the men had taken her phone, and she couldn't contact anyone. The couple called the police, and urged her to denounce the rape, which she did.
However, the judges have decided upon the evidence given, that there was no intimidation nor violence in the act of five large, burly men forcing themselves on a young, eighteen-year-old girl. One of the three judges even wanted the five men declared innocent. The girl declared that she didn't forcefully defend herself because she was scared of what the men might do to her if she had done so. Perhaps the stories of women who had been raped before her, and killed when they tried to avoid the aggression came to her mind, as five large, strong men surrounded her in the lonely entryway. So, according to the judges, what happened to her does not constitute rape, just abuse. Perhaps, she should have died trying to defend her "honor" from her attackers for the judges to see anything more than abuse? Too many women have already died.
While the trial was unwinding last fall, and with this verdict, memories came back to me of another trial in another time and place. I was almost 14 when the Big Dan's rape case in New Bedford, Massahusetts, happened. I remember the sordidness, and how the press recounted the attacks on the victim. Why would a 21 year-old mother go late at night to a tavern populated with only men to buy cigarettes? She was looking for something; she was half-drunk and flirting; she was asking for it. What woman is looking to be raped on a pool table by four men with others looking on? Would that woman run screaming, half naked, into the street for help? Fortunately, she got it in the form of a group of three friends who happened to be driving by and took her to the hospital and called the police. If it hadn't been for them, no one would have believed her in the first place. Even so, only four of the six defendants spent any time in jail; no more than six and a half years.
That trial became the lodestone for victim blaming in other trials. What was the woman wearing? What were her actions? Where was she, all alone? Much of this was asked at the trial last fall in Pamplona. Why was an eighteen-year-old girl all alone way after midnight on the streets? What was she wearing? Why did she go with them? Why didn't she fight back? According to the judge who wanted to absolve the defendants, in the videos they took of the rape, the sounds she emitted could be interpreted as pleasure. I'd hate to be his wife. To him and the others, there must have been some type of implicit consent, otherwise she would have fought back, screamed, kicked, and put up a ruckus. Upon which, one of them might have punched her hard enough to break her neck, or another might have stifled her screams by placing his hand on her throat, and throttled her.
In thirty years male violence against women is still considered the woman's fault. Even the case with our local rapist and killer of Diana Quer, makes some people question what she was wearing and why she was walking alone. What the hell does it matter? If a woman says NO, she means NO. Any other interpretation of that little word is wrong. No woman is ever asking for ANY violence against her person.
This trial has not made anyone happy. The defense will appeal, because, of course, they want a complete absolution, claiming there was consent. The prosecution, because they asked for a conviction in line with the accusation of rape, yet got a simple abuse conviction. This will yet stretch on for years. It is to be seen what other judges in other courts have to say. Hopefully, some judge with a real sense of justice will hand down a real sentence in accordance with the actions of this wolf pack. Otherwise, women's rights and safety are still in the Dark Ages.
Outside the courthouse, howls went up upon hearing the sentence. The bare facts are these: a young girl who had drunk too much found herself with a group of five men who led her into the open entryway of an apartment building. There, they took her clothes off and proceded to rape her, vaginally, anally, and orally, while filming the ordeal with their phones. When they were done with her, they let her go. She was found later on a park bench by a couple, in a state of shock. On top of the rape, the men had taken her phone, and she couldn't contact anyone. The couple called the police, and urged her to denounce the rape, which she did.
However, the judges have decided upon the evidence given, that there was no intimidation nor violence in the act of five large, burly men forcing themselves on a young, eighteen-year-old girl. One of the three judges even wanted the five men declared innocent. The girl declared that she didn't forcefully defend herself because she was scared of what the men might do to her if she had done so. Perhaps the stories of women who had been raped before her, and killed when they tried to avoid the aggression came to her mind, as five large, strong men surrounded her in the lonely entryway. So, according to the judges, what happened to her does not constitute rape, just abuse. Perhaps, she should have died trying to defend her "honor" from her attackers for the judges to see anything more than abuse? Too many women have already died.
While the trial was unwinding last fall, and with this verdict, memories came back to me of another trial in another time and place. I was almost 14 when the Big Dan's rape case in New Bedford, Massahusetts, happened. I remember the sordidness, and how the press recounted the attacks on the victim. Why would a 21 year-old mother go late at night to a tavern populated with only men to buy cigarettes? She was looking for something; she was half-drunk and flirting; she was asking for it. What woman is looking to be raped on a pool table by four men with others looking on? Would that woman run screaming, half naked, into the street for help? Fortunately, she got it in the form of a group of three friends who happened to be driving by and took her to the hospital and called the police. If it hadn't been for them, no one would have believed her in the first place. Even so, only four of the six defendants spent any time in jail; no more than six and a half years.
That trial became the lodestone for victim blaming in other trials. What was the woman wearing? What were her actions? Where was she, all alone? Much of this was asked at the trial last fall in Pamplona. Why was an eighteen-year-old girl all alone way after midnight on the streets? What was she wearing? Why did she go with them? Why didn't she fight back? According to the judge who wanted to absolve the defendants, in the videos they took of the rape, the sounds she emitted could be interpreted as pleasure. I'd hate to be his wife. To him and the others, there must have been some type of implicit consent, otherwise she would have fought back, screamed, kicked, and put up a ruckus. Upon which, one of them might have punched her hard enough to break her neck, or another might have stifled her screams by placing his hand on her throat, and throttled her.
In thirty years male violence against women is still considered the woman's fault. Even the case with our local rapist and killer of Diana Quer, makes some people question what she was wearing and why she was walking alone. What the hell does it matter? If a woman says NO, she means NO. Any other interpretation of that little word is wrong. No woman is ever asking for ANY violence against her person.
This trial has not made anyone happy. The defense will appeal, because, of course, they want a complete absolution, claiming there was consent. The prosecution, because they asked for a conviction in line with the accusation of rape, yet got a simple abuse conviction. This will yet stretch on for years. It is to be seen what other judges in other courts have to say. Hopefully, some judge with a real sense of justice will hand down a real sentence in accordance with the actions of this wolf pack. Otherwise, women's rights and safety are still in the Dark Ages.
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