The attack took place just a month ago, on September 12, live on Spanish television. Isa Balado, journalist for the Cuatro channel, is on a duplex in a street in Madrid when a man slips up behind her and puts his hand on her buttocks. From a legal point of view, this action is nothing more and nothing less than sexual assault. However, the man remains, all smiles, in the field of the camera, despite the journalist’s requests to let her work. On set, the presenter protests. “Sorry Isa, I’m interrupting you but did he put a hand on your ass there? Hand me that idiot.” The man defends himself weakly, agrees to leave the premises but caresses the journalist’s hair as he leaves.
In a Spain still scalded by the non-consensual kiss of the now ex-president of the Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, this new affair of sexual violence caused a stir, up to the highest summit of the State. “Non-consensual touching is sexual violence and we say enough of impunity,” reacted on X – formerly Twitter – the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero. A few hours later, the police announced that they had arrested the individual, showing him handcuffed in front of the police station. If this news item has caused so much discussion in Spain, it is above all because it illustrates the revolution initiated over the past twenty years to fight against sexual and gender-based violence… but also the “glass ceiling” that the country difficult to break.
The drama of Ana Orantes
“Spain is twenty years ahead of us,” says Isabelle Rome, former minister responsible for equality between men and women. We have drawn a lot of inspiration from everything that has been put in place, particularly with regard to the protection of victims. » When she was a senior civil servant at the Ministry of Justice and then a member of the government, this former magistrate traveled back and forth to the other side of the Pyrenees to understand how, in twenty years, Spain managed to reduce more than 30% the number of feminicides, increasing from 71 in 2003 to 48 in 2022. In France, the serious danger telephone, the anti-reconciliation bracelet – which aims to keep violent spouses away – or specialized jurisdictions are all variations of the Spanish model. “We cannot reproduce everything identically because we do not have the same judicial system,” explains the former minister. But obviously, their perspective on these devices is valuable. »
The awareness of our neighbors was born in pain. For many experts, it took place in December 1997, after the assassination of Ana Orantes, burned alive by her ex-husband. A few days earlier, the victim, aged 60, had testified to Andalusian television about the daily violence that the latter subjected her to – “forty years of being beaten, sometimes with a stick”. But especially the disinterest of justice in his ordeal. This mother of eleven children obtained a divorce in 1996, but the judge forced her to share the family home with her executioner: one floor of the house for each. And this despite the fifteen complaints she had filed to denounce violence. “Making a complaint doesn’t do much good,” she confided on television. They tell you that family arguments are a normal thing. »
“Family terrorism”
To understand the words of Ana Orantès, you have to go back in time. If, in the 1930s, the country was considered one of the most progressive in terms of women’s rights, Francoism sounded the death knell for all progress. Overnight, women lost the right to vote but also the right to divorce, have an abortion or work freely. The dictator establishes a “dependent wife’s allowance” for men, and the majority is raised to 25 years for women. It was not until 1978 that equality was restored. “For forty years, women have been relegated to the background, societal habits have been adopted. And even if after the death of Franco, there is real voluntarism on this issue, forty years of dictatorship, that leaves a mark,” insists Carole Viñals, lecturer at the University of Lille, specialist in contemporary Spain.
In the peninsula, the assassination of Ana Orantes causes a shock wave. Numerous demonstrations are organized to denounce the mistreatment of women, some elected officials even speak of “family terrorism”. But we will have to wait until 2004 for this societal upheaval to be reflected in the texts. A law called “comprehensive protection against gender violence” is adopted by a very large majority. Numerous measures result from this, such as the specialization of courts, the establishment of an IT system for monitoring and protecting victims at national level, and the creation of anti-reconciliation bracelets for attackers. “ In Spain, as everywhere, it is society that pushes lawyers to develop the law. Without popular support, nothing changes,” continues the sociologist.
“The Pack” and the question of consent
In 2016, the so-called “La Meute” affair outraged Spain and pushed the country to further develop legislation. During the San Fermin celebrations in Pamplona, an 18-year-old young woman is raped by five men. To make matters worse, they film their actions and brag about it on WhatsApp. However, in 2018, they were sentenced to “only” nine years in prison, not for rape but for the offense of “sexual abuse”. Tens of thousands of women are demonstrating, demanding a change to the Penal Code. The following year, the Supreme Court reclassified the facts as rape and the perpetrators received fifteen years. Above all, this drama gives rise to a new law, in 2022. Nicknamed “only a yes is a yes”, the text reverses the burden of proof. From now on, it is up to the alleged perpetrators of sexual violence to prove that consent was obtained.
“Today, I think that in France, we have caught up with our legislative delay,” insists Isabelle Rome. We are even ahead of the curve when it comes to treating perpetrators of violence. But it takes time for professionals to familiarize themselves with these tools, to be trained and that takes time. » This delay that the former minister speaks of is very concrete. A study dating from 2020 from the Hubertine Auclert center indicates that in 2019, Spain issued 17 times more protection orders than France, the number of complaints for domestic violence was 28% higher even though the country has 30% fewer inhabitants. Likewise, the report estimates that the budget allocated to the fight against domestic violence in Spain is 16 euros per inhabitant, compared to 5 in France.
A more informed society
But in the eyes of Carole Viñals, Spanish voluntarism cannot be reduced to a legislative arsenal. “Society as a whole is much more reactive on these subjects. When a woman is killed by her partner, there is systematically a white march, WhatsApp groups will be created to help loved ones, to organize themselves. » In France, demonstrations are relatively rare and with the exception of a few emblematic cases, the reactions of the political class are timid.
To a lesser extent, the same goes for the Rubiales affair, the former president of the Spanish football federation. The controversy made headlines for days. All members of the political class, but also the players, spoke out and supported the player who was kissed against her will. “The reactions were much firmer than at home,” believes Isabelle Rome. Spain is much further ahead than us in the fight against sexism. In France, there will be this idea that it is not really serious, we will be more tolerant of certain behaviors even though everything is linked. »
However, nothing is certain. Recently, the number of feminicides in Spain has stagnated or even increased slightly. There were 48 in 2022, compared to 43 in 2020. We are certainly a long way from the 118 recorded in France last year, but these figures worry even the highest authorities. And this, especially since the far-right current Vox, openly anti-feminist, continues to gain ground. Proof, if any were needed, that the battle is still far from won.