Madrid (EFE).- The Ministry of Justice is working on the reform of the only yes is yes law “from the technical point of view and rigorously”, but it assures that it does not yet have any final proposal or draft.
Justice sources have told EFE that, although Minister Pilar Llop already admitted a few weeks ago that the law was having unwanted effects, there is currently no document on the table that can be analyzed within the coalition government.
Moncloa has recognized this weekend the need to reform the law for the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom to reverse the lowering of sentences for sexual offenders, although the Ministry of Equality has warned that no penal change can stop sentence reviews, since they are a consequence “of the incorrect application of the transitory law and of the law itself.”
From the Executive they assure that the two parties of the coalition Government, “in full harmony”, are aware of the undesired effects generated by the application of the law, with the revision of sentences for sexual offenders, and want to contribute together to resolve it.
Addressing this situation responsibly, as Moncloa advocates, requires careful attention, because it is complex.
“Justice continues to work from a technical point of view and rigorously,” they point out from the department directed by Llop, although they add that they do not have “any definitive proposal or draft.”
Equality warns: No reform of the yes is yes law will stop the reviews
The Ministry of Equality admits that no penal reform of the law of the only yes is yes “can stop the reviews”, and warns that returning to the previous model means making the victims go through “an evidentiary ordeal” to be able to demonstrate sexual violence exercised against them.
Sources of Equality have thus responded to the intention of the socialist part of the Executive to reform the Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom after the cascade of reductions in sentences, and even releases, of sexual offenders.
Faced with this position, the department headed by Irene Montero has proposed a plan of urgent measures to protect victims of sexual violence and effectively implement the law.
“There is no penal reform of the law that can stop the revisions, since they are the consequence of the incorrect application of the transitional law and the law itself,” they insist from Equality, which defends the urgent implementation of ten measures that they range from judicial specialization to training in sexual violence or the increase of troops for the protection of women”.
According to the ministry, “it is essential to stop any attempt by the right to return to the previous model, based on violence and intimidation and which required women to go through an ordeal of evidence in order to demonstrate the sexual violence exercised against them.”
To protect victims of sexual violence and “implement the law of only yes is yes”, Equality proposes these ten urgent measures:
1.- Double the exclusive courts for violence against women, expanding their powers to crimes against sexual freedom.
2.- Reinforcement of the Violence against Women Prosecutor’s Office and extension of its powers to sexual violence.
3.- Guarantee free legal assistance to victims.
4.- Inclusion of victims of sexual violence in the Telephone Service for Attention and Protection of victims of gender violence (ATENPRO) from 2023 and increase in the number of devices.
5.- Reinforcement of comprehensive forensic assessment units.
6.- Specialized training on violence against women for all personnel of the Administration of Justice and the Interior, as well as education and health).
7.- Implementation of aid to victims of sexual violence.
8.- Creation of the psychological and psychiatric care service specialized in sexual violence in the National Health System for the complete recovery of the victims in the long term.
9.- Increase in the number of agents that the Ministry of the Interior indicates that it dedicates exclusively to the protection of women who suffer gender violence, expanding the powers of specialized units to crimes against sexual freedom.
10.- Implementation of purple dots in all public offices and facilities that reinforce care and information services for all victims.