People in Spain have expressed outrage after a court cleared five men of rape, ruling they did not use violence against their year-old victim. The court in Barcelona said the girl was drunk and unconscious at the time and did not fight back. Instead the men were guilty of a lesser charge of sexual abuse because they did not use violence or intimidation, and their act could not be considered sexual assault.
The men, who denied the charges, took turns to have sex with the teenager after a party in the town of Manresa, north of Barcelona, in October , the court heard. It said that because the victim was unconscious, she "could not accept or reject the sexual relations" and that the men "could carry out those sexual relations without the use of violence or intimidation".
Women's rights campaigners in Spain have now called for a change in the law following the court's controversial decision. Marisa Soleto, of the feminist group Fundacin Mujeres, said "this is just one more piece of proof for the necessity to change the penal code". She tweeted: "I'm not a judge and I don't know how many years in prison they deserve, but what I do know is that this is not abuse, it is rape!
Spain's deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, said it is a priority of her government to change the law to make it clear that consent is necessary for sexual relations to occur legally.
A similar court ruling in sparked widespread protests when five men were found guilty of sexual abusing a woman but acquitted of rape over an attack during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona. In the "wolf pack" case, Spain's supreme court later overruled the lower court and convicted them of rape , increasing their jail sentences to 15 years rather than the original nine-year terms.
