Tag: rape

  • No sexual consent means rape, Spain told by criminal panel

    Women's rights protest in Madrid, 25 Nov 18 Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption This year Spain has noticed mass protests towards gender-primarily based violence

    Spanish law shall be toughened to outline any non-consensual sexual act as “assault” or “rape” instead of “sexual abuse”, experts have decided.

    A panel of felony experts was once arrange via the government after protests whilst five males had been cleared of raping a teenage lady. Judges ruled that the so-referred to as “wolf pack” gang had now not assaulted her.

    The panel will recommend that the utmost jail term for rape must remain 15 years, Spanish media report.

    The proposal is still being labored on.

    On 5 December judges in the northern Navarre area upheld the verdict to transparent the 5 males in the case referred to as La manada (wolf pack). The case will now go to the Splendid Courtroom.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption A rally in Bilbao towards the FIVE December ruling: “It’s Not Abuse, It Is Rape. We Consider You” says the banner

    Below the current regulation, proof of violence or intimidation has to be presented for a case to be treated as “rape”.

    The new notion, quoted by Spain’s Europa Press news company, requires the “maximum penalty” in cases regarding violence or intimidation towards a sufferer “in degrading instances”, or when the sufferer is assaulted by two or extra people.

    The 15-year maximum jail time period for rape is the similar as the utmost time period for murder in Spain.

    The felony adjustments are also extra explicit about the varieties of sexual assault regarded as to be the worst.

    They come with circumstances the place a sufferer is particularly inclined, as an example assaulted by a determine or different authority determine, or the place a weapon is used against the sufferer.

    Similarly, if a wrongdoer intoxicates the sufferer with drugs or alcohol it will be considered an especially grave crime.

  • Elon Musk in new rant at Thai cave rescuer

    Composite image of Vernon Unsworth and Elon Musk Image copyright AFP Symbol caption Mr Musk (R) alleged that British diver Mr Unsworth (L) had a “child bride”

    Elon Musk has once more attacked a British diver he has previously accused without proof of being a child abuser.

    In an e-mail to a reporter, Mr Musk stated Vernon Unsworth – who assisted with the rescue of 12 Thai teenagers from a flooded cave – was a “child rapist”.

    Mr Unsworth’s legal professional stated the allegation was “totally fake”.

    Mr Musk had earlier apologised for calling Mr Unsworth a “pedo”. The pair first clashed over Mr Musk’s offer of a mini-submarine to assist with the rescue.

    The Briton had instructed CNN that the submarine used to be “just a PR stunt that had absolutely no likelihood of operating”. The Tesla founder answered with a series of tweets accusing Mr Unsworth of paedophilia with out offering any proof.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Unsworth, in orange, supplied knowledge for the rescue

    what is Unsworth’s reaction?

    Mr Unsworth’s legal professional Mark Kennedy from the company Howard Kennedy told the BBC that Mr Musk’s allegations had been baseless.

    “Simply as we get a chain of legal court cases drafted, Mr Musk adds another libel to it,” he said.

    “He turns out to have a reckless indifference concerning the truth of those things. there’s not a shred or scintilla of evidence to back it up.

    “Vernon Unsworth is in so much people’s minds a hero. he is now not a paedophile as is alleged. We really feel very strongly that the document need to be placed directly.”

    “this is all about being disillusioned that – as considered one of the divers, not my shopper, placed it – Musk’s shiny tube wasn’t used,” he added.

    Mr Kennedy showed that Mr Unsworth was once in a dating with Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, a Thai girl who advised Buzzfeed she used to be FORTY and were in a courting with Mr Unsworth for seven years.

    The couple had met in London, the place Mr Unsworth lives, and the relationship had persisted even as Mr Unsworth was once in Thailand exploring the Tham Luang cave advanced, Mr Kennedy said.

    What different allegations does Musk make?

    In his email, Mr Musk also mentioned that Mr Unsworth had now not been part of the cave dive rescue workforce and have been shunned by way of its members.

    Mr Unsworth did not participate in the dives but had up to now explored the cave complex widely. He knew in regards to the raised ledge referred to as Pattaya Beach where the men and their soccer instruct may have sought shelter and called within the two professional British divers who in the end discovered the trapped children.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption The Tesla founder additionally mentioned Mr Unsworth were kept away from by means of different rescue divers

    Mr Musk additionally despatched a duplicate of a letter from the Thai government thanking him for his offer of assistance and denied that he had been requested by the Thai govt to leave the cave advanced during the rescue operation – an assertion he alleged Mr Unsworth had made during his CNN interview.

    in the interview, Mr Unsworth mentioned Mr Musk have been asked to depart the cave complicated in the course of the rescue operation however did not say through whom.

    Mr Kennedy mentioned Mr Musk had not to begin with asked for or been given surveys of the cave device while providing the use of a mini-submarine and it could not have geared up throughout the areas to be had within the cave besides. Mr Musk handiest arrived on the cave complex while 8 of the men had already been rescued, Mr Kennedy said.

    Does Musk ‘attract drama’?

    the newest controversy follows weeks of erratic behaviour on social media.

    In July he stunned buyers by way of announcing on Twitter that he had investment secured to take his automobile company Tesla non-public. He later stated the firm may keep public.

    He also tweeted that he suffered from “great highs, bad lows and unrelenting stress”. He also tweeted that he might be afflicted by bipolar dysfunction but then mentioned “maybe now not medically”.

    In August he advised the brand new York Times that he worked “ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-hour weeks” and took sedatives.

    His brother Kimbal Musk told the newspaper that the reason Mr Musk “turns out to draw drama” is as a result of he is “so clear, so open, in a way that may come back to bite him”.

  • Morocco: Arrests made in Khadija rape and torture case

    Tattooed arm of victim Image copyright Abdul Wahid Al Saadi Symbol caption The younger woman stated her captors forcibly tattooed her and burnt her with cigarettes

    Police in Morocco have arrested 12 young males over allegations through a 17-12 months-antique lady that she was brutally raped and tortured over a two-month period.

    She defined in a TV interview ultimate week how she was kidnapped by means of a gang in June.

    “i can by no means forgive them – they’ve destroyed me,” she said.

    The case led to outrage in Morocco and led to a web-based marketing campaign to deliver the ones accountable to justice.

    A judge-led investigation is under manner within the city of Beni Mellal – those arrested are elderly between 18 and 27, an legit advised the AFP information company.

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  • Sweden rape: Most convicted attackers overseas-born, says TV

    Swedish police responding to a crime in Malmo (file pic) Image copyright Getty Photographs Image caption Reporting of rape is way higher in Sweden than in so much other countries (file pic)

    About FIFTY EIGHT% of guys convicted in Sweden of rape and tried rape over the prior 5 years were born abroad, in keeping with data from Swedish national TV.

    Public broadcaster SVT mentioned it had counted all court docket convictions to provide a complete picture in Sweden.

    But Sweden had hundreds more stated rapes, and there is no ethnic breakdown for those.

    Immigration and crime are best problems in Sweden’s basic election marketing campaign. The vote is on NINE September.

    The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats hope to make vital flooring, despite the fact that they’ve slipped to third place in the recent opinion ballot .

    The Undertaking Investigation programme, due to be broadcast on Wednesday by way of SVT, said the entire selection of offenders over 5 years used to be 843. of those, 197 were from the middle East and North Africa, with 45 coming from Afghanistan.

    “we are very clear within the programme that it’s a small percentage of the folk coming from abroad who’re convicted of rape,” leader editor Ulf Johansson advised the BBC.

    He mentioned that the number of pronounced rapes in Sweden was once far higher, so no conclusions might be drawn on the role of immigrants in sexual attacks.

    Is Malmo the ‘rape capital’ of Europe?

    When Sweden took in its best choice of asylum seekers in 2015, the selection of mentioned rapes declined by means of 12%. At The height of the migration challenge, some 160,000 migrants arrived there – extra in step with capita than any other EU usa.

    Click On to peer content: sweden_rape_data_svt

    The steep rise in migration additionally raised questions on Sweden’s talent to integrate immigrants. The centre-left Social Democrat-led executive quickly offered regulations and the selection of arrivals fell dramatically.

    The SVT programme revealed that in circumstances where the sufferer didn’t realize the attacker, the percentage of foreign-born offenders was more than EIGHTY%.

    A former police officer born in Afghanistan told the programme that a few young Afghans who had come to Sweden in latest years had perspectives that differed significantly from Sweden’s concept of sexual equality.

    Responding to the record on Wednesday, key figures in both the populist Sweden Democrats (SD) and the centre-right Moderates said foreigners convicted of rape have to be deported.

    The contemporary opinion ballot on Wednesday shows the populist party’s beef up has dipped in contemporary weeks to simply over 19% in the polls, however it is still heading in the right direction for its perfect efficiency but. The Social Democrats are top the polls whilst the Moderates are just prior to the anti-immigration SD.

    Intercourse with out consent is rape, says Sweden Swede halts Afghan man’s deportation Sweden’s deadly downside with hand grenades Trump tries to clarify Sweden feedback

    Whilst requested why SVT had decided to supply a probably inflammatory programme ahead of the election, Ulf Johansson stressed that each political celebration was once tackling problems round immigration and it was once important to provide Swedes a greater perception into their society.

    “i don’t think this may have an impact at the election,” he stated. “There has been so much of dialogue already approximately this and it is simply extra facts in an present debate.”

    In Would Possibly, Sweden changed its regulations, to make intercourse with out consent rape. Until then prosecutors needed to turn out that violence were used or the sufferer were exploited in a prone condition.

    Click to see content material: Sweden_rape_reports_convictions

  • Pamplona ‘wolf pack’ gang rape trial angers Spain

    Protesters hold banners that read Image copyright EPA Image caption Banners announcing “trial in opposition to defendants, no longer against the victim” are held at a rally in Pamplona

    Feminists and felony observers in Spain have expressed outrage at what they see as “patriarchal justice” throughout the trial of 5 men accused of gang raping an 18-yr-old girl during Pamplona’s San Fermín bull-running competition in 2016.

    The judge, who will imagine his verdict after Tuesday’s ultimate hearing, has come under fire over his choices to allow evidence to be offered concerning the alleged sufferer’s private existence and persona, whilst no longer permitting the inclusion of texted conversations between the accused in which they it appears speak about plans to rape girls.

    searching through conversations in the WhatsApp crew known as “La manada”, or “wolf pack”, to which the boys belonged, police investigators came across an incident wherein video confirmed some of the people it appears abusing another woman, who looked as if it would be unconscious.

    Conversations previous to their adventure from Seville to Pamplona point out the need to obtain date rape drugs and ropes, “as a result of when we get there, we’ll want to rape the whole thing we set eyes on”.

    Why I kept my rapist’s baby

    A private detective’s record, commissioned through considered one of the accused, was once compiled by spying on the alleged victim in the aftermath of the alleged assault, together with her job on social media and a holiday with buddies. weeks into the trial, the defence decided to withdraw the report as proof.

    Image copyright AFP Image caption Message in 2016 protesting in opposition to sexual attacks through the Pamplona competition

    “on this trial, it seems that what is being judged is not the crimes, but this woman’s honour,” says Amalia Fernández, president of Themis, a Spanish organisation of girls jurists.

    Criticising the pass judgement on’s determination to include the detective’s record and media debates over whether the alleged sufferer have been truthful in describing the past due-night encounter with the lads as rape, Ms Fernández sees proof of a systematic bias against women.

    Image copyright EPA Symbol caption The trial has been closely followed in Spain

    When the five males in spite of everything gave proof, women protestors could be heard outside the Pamplona courthouse shouting slogans together with “No way no”.

    Media reporting, focusing closely on the alleged victim’s credibility, has been criticised. in a single example, a big TELEVISION network ran a ballot on Twitter asking the general public if they believed it was a rape or consensual intercourse.

    Videos of the late-night time stumble upon among the men and the young woman from Madrid show how they wandered the streets amongst other drunken revellers before of the men led her into the basement block of flats by the hand.

    consistent with the police file on the case, the men surrounded the teenager in a small alcove, removed her garments and had unprotected penetrative intercourse.

    Image copyright EPA Image caption The five accused of the alleged gang rape are in prison

    the men sent WhatsApp messages to friends celebrating the sex act, and promised to percentage videos they took on their telephones. The Ones movies were examined by means of the court docket body by means of frame.

    The police file at the movies says that the alleged victim keeps a “passive or neutral” attitude throughout the scene, keeping her eyes closed at all instances.

    “I simply wanted it to complete as soon as possible,” she said at the witness stand.

    The girl used to be present in a reportedly distraught state through a pair within the side road out of doors the scene of the alleged crime. She informed the court she continues to be having mental remedy to handle trauma from the alleged attack.

  • Spain’s ‘wolf pack’ intercourse attackers confronted at Seville pool

    A woman holds aloft a poster during a demonstration - on it are the photographs of the Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption Protesters ceaselessly used the faces of the “wolf pack” in their banners

    Contributors of the infamous “wolf pack” crew convicted of sexual abuse in Spain have been compelled to escape a swimming pool in Seville.

    The males have been found in a gaggle with others when they were angrily confronted by means of swimmers.

    The case involved five men sexually abusing an 18-year-old woman on the San Fermin competition in Pamplona in 2016.

    It turned into a national scandal in Spain – and the boys have been launched a couple of months into their 9-year sentence.

    All 5 men are originally from Seville, the place no less than two had been recognised by way of other bathers on the public pool in Palomares del Río on Saturday.

    Spanish newspaper El País said they’d been attending a birthday celebration.

    Angry participants of the general public shouted on the males, forcing them to transport to a different a part of the sports centre and keep there till it closed, Spanish media pronounced.

    Spanish courtroom releases ‘wolf pack’ ‘Wolf pack’ gang rape trial angers Spain

    Native mayor Juana Caballero issued a press release on Monday, announcing: “we will now not allow Palomares del Río to grow to be a refuge for rapists or criminals”.

    She said the native govt wouldn’t permit somebody declared “persona non grata” to use public areas and result in concern.

    The males are nicknamed after their Whatsapp workforce – titled Los Angeles manada (the wolf pack) – during which they bragged approximately their movements and of the video recordings taken throughout the attack.

    They have been acquitted of rape, which below Spanish regulation calls for violence or intimidation to be used. Police stated the victim was once “passive or impartial”, conserving her eyes closed through the attack.

    All five men had been sentenced for sexual abuse as opposed to the more severe crime of rape.

    The surprising nature of the incident and the perceived gentle punishment resulted in an outcry and widespread protests.

  • Spain ‘wolf pack’ case: Lots protest over rape ruling

    Demonstrators in Madrid outside the Ministry of Justice - 26 April Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Image caption The protesters see the justice device as being far away from society

    Lots of individuals have been protesting throughout Spain, after a court docket acquitted 5 males of rape fees for an assault on a young woman throughout a bull-working pageant.

    Angry demonstrators packed primary Madrid and different cities shouting “Shame! Shame!” and “No manner no”.

    The 5 had been jailed for 9 years for sexual attack, but many saw the sentence as too lenient.

    Both the lady and the defendants say they’re going to enchantment against the decision.

    The 5 – who belonged to a WhatsApp team referred to as La manada (wolf pack) – filmed the attack, which came about during the San Fermin pageant in Pamplona in July 2016.

    Symbol copyright EPA Image caption Lots Of the sufferer’s supporters outdoor the courtroom donned red gloves in protest

    Altamira Gonzalo, vice-president of Themis, a Spanish agency of ladies jurists, advised Efe information company: “it’ll have been a courageous sentence. The courts cannot be so far away from society.”

    Socialist birthday celebration leader Pedro Sanchez tweeted his outrage (in Spanish): “If what the ‘wolfpack’ did wasn’t staff violence in opposition to a defenceless lady, then what can we bear in mind by means of rape?”

    What happened within the court?

    The 5, in their late 20s and at the start from Seville, and the sufferer, from Madrid, were not provide when the judgement was once read out after a five-month trial, which was held in the back of closed doorways to offer protection to the lady’s identity.

    The males, who were in custody due to the fact 2016, were also ordered to pay the lady €50,000 ($SIXTY ONE,000; £43,500) in repayment.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Symbol caption A Picture of the accused is seen on display in the court

    some of them filmed the sexual act on their telephones – there were seven movies, totalling NINETY SIX seconds. one of the lads posted messages in a WhatsApp staff celebrating what that they had done and promising to percentage the recording.

    According to the police file, the sufferer maintained a “passive or neutral” perspective within the scene, preserving her eyes closed at all times. Her phone was once then stolen.

    She was present in a reportedly distraught state by a pair in the street out of doors the scene of the attack. She advised the trial she was once still having psychological remedy to care for trauma.

    some of the boys have been discovered to be in a video by which they it sounds as if abused another girl, who gave the impression to be subconscious.

    Spain’s #MeToo moment

    By James Badcock, Madrid

    The “wolf pack” case has been Spain’s #MeToo over the prior years, with lots of supporters of the victim uniting below the slogan Yo te creo (i feel you).

    The stunning nature of the gang abuse, the formative years of the victim and the obnoxious celebratory messages approximately their “conquest” on their WhatsApp chat mixed to make the case fertile fodder for black-and-white public opinion.

    That the 2 majority verdict judges have selected to see sun shades of gray by way of not interpreting the criminals’ acts as violent or intimidatory will gas angry complaint from feminist groups.

    A Couple Of top left-wing politicians have already questioned the decision. the plain certainty of an enchantment hearing way the talk over whether the regulation protects women will continue.

    who’re the men?

    José Ángel Prenda, 28: regarded as the leader of the 5, wrote a message in the WhatsApp workforce in regards to the video showing them having intercourse with the woman. He were sentenced to two years in jail in 2011 for robbery with power Antonio Manuel Guerrero: a Civil Guard police officer, born in 1989, is thought to have recorded six movies. He additionally admitted to stealing the sufferer’s telephone Ángel Boza, 26: his prison data come with robbery with drive and driving below the influence of alcohol and medicine Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo, 29: a military officer, is believed to have recorded one video Jesús Escudero, 27: a hairdresser

    (more…)