Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

"Only Yes Is Yes": Spain Moves To Tighten Rape Law

"Only Yes Is Yes": Spain Moves To Tighten Rape Law

The measure comes in the wake of the notorious 2016 gang rape of an 18-year-old woman by five men at a bull-running festival in Pamplona in northern Spain that shocked the country.

Spain's cabinet approved a draft bill on Tuesday that strengthens the country's laws against rape by requiring explicit consent for sex acts, a move long demanded by assault survivors and women's rights groups.

The proposed law "makes clear that silence or passivity do not mean consent, or that not showing opposition can not be an excuse to act against the will of the other person," said government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero, who called it "a decisive step forward".

The measure comes in the wake of the notorious 2016 gang rape of an 18-year-old woman by five men at a bull-running festival in Pamplona in northern Spain that shocked the country.

The men, who called themselves "the wolf pack", were initially convicted of sexual abuse instead of the more serious offence of sexual assault, which includes rape, since the court found no proof that they had used physical violence.

Two of the men filmed the assault, during which the woman is silent and passive -- a fact the judges interpreted as consent.

The ruling highlighted how under Spain's existing criminal code, rape must involve violence and intimidation, and it led to noisy demonstrations across the country to demand reform.

Dubbed the "only yes is yes" law, the bill will define rape as sex without clear consent, mirroring pioneering legislation which came into force in Sweden in 2018.

It also proposes jail penalties for work-related sexual harassment and makes catcalling -- sexually harassing a stranger in the street -- a criminal offence for the first time.

The bill also qualifies forced marriage and genital mutilation as criminal offences and stiffens laws against pimping.

'Freer and safer'


"This law puts consent at the centre and that means only you decide about your body and your sexuality. It frees you from having to show that you resisted, that there was violence or that you felt intimidated," said Equality Minister Irene Montero.

The bill now goes to parliament for a debate and vote, probably in September.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has made feminism a banner of his administration, heads a minority government but he is expected to cobble together enough support from smaller regional parties to pass the bill.

"Let's make our country a freer and safer place for women," he tweeted after cabinet approved the draft bill, which he said will protect women's "right to sexual freedom".

Spain is considered a pioneer in the fight against violence against women after it in 2004 approved Europe's first law that specifically cracked down on domestic violence. That law made the victim's gender an aggravating factor in cases of assault.

Only about a dozen European nations have changed their legal definition of rape as sex without consent, according to Amnesty International. They include Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Ireland.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×