At the forefront of the fight against domestic violence for twenty years, Spain has again distinguished itself by condemning a man for having slapped his wife, a decision all the more rare since the victim had not wished to bring complaint. In a judgment made public on Monday, the court of the city of Soria found that the defendant was guilty of ill-treatment and violence against women.
The facts took place on the night of January 27 to 28 in Soria. While taking part in a live “battle” on TikTok with three friends in front of a virtual audience of several thousand people, a woman received a slap, hard enough that you could see her head suddenly swivel and her hair fly . The gesture had brought tears to the eyes of the victim, underlines the court in its decision.
Consent does not justify violence
“The accused, in a public and notorious manner, in front of thousands of people, assaulted his wife, with the intention of injuring her physical integrity and humiliating her in public. If he did not cause injury, it is indeed a case of obvious and real abuse, “said the court. The magistrate who pronounced the sentence recalled that in crimes of gender violence, “the filing of a complaint by the victim is not necessary and the sanction can be pronounced as soon as the facts are noted”.
An important clarification, since during the trial, the accused had refused to answer and the victim had defended her husband. “This simple live broadcast of the slap was enough for the public authorities to deploy the victim’s protection protocol, whether or not they recognize themselves as such”, writes the magistrate.
Moreover, the fact that “the victim consents to the slap and justifies it” does not negate the sanction either, because “in crimes of violence against women, as in all crimes of serious injury, the consent of the person attacked is irrelevant and the sanction applies in all cases”. “This conduct”, continues the magistrate, “deserves to be punished as heavily as possible, since the accused is not able to respect his wife, not even in public”. The court also sentenced the defendant to a three-year estrangement from the victim and a ban on communicating with her, along with a three-year ban on possessing a weapon.