The PSOE yields to pressure and will propose changes to the controversial law “only yes is yes”

AFTER months of political pressure, the ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) has announced that will introduce changes to the new law ‘only yes is yes’.

The legislation, which took effect in October, was intended to focus attention on consent in sexual assault cases, but has had the unintended consequence of reduce the sentences of about 400 convicted sex offenders and even see the early release of about 30.

In statements this Tuesday in the Congress of Deputies to his fellow Socialist Party deputies, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that the law – whose full name is ‘Law for the Full Guarantee of Sexual Freedom’ – had become ‘a problem’.

The law was drafted by the Equality Ministry, which is run by the junior partner in the coalition government, the leftist United We Can.

Initially, Sánchez defended the legislation when the trickle of reduced sentences and early release began, but today he said that “it has become clear that several months after its entry into force, the law has had some unwanted effects in its application ‘.

The PSOE has stated that it wants to keep consent at the center of the legislation but fix the part that has meant lighter prison sentences for sex offenders.

“No one,” Sánchez said about the drafting of the law, “had the objective that no offender would have their sentence reduced.”

According to the new law, consent must be given and it cannot be presumed that it was given by omission or silence. The legislation also eliminates the distinction between sexual abuse and sexual assault, that is, rape, by making consent the deciding factor.

Problems arose due to the change in the definition of crimes and their associated minimum and maximum prison sentences upon conviction.

Minimum sentences were generally reduced in the absence of aggravating circumstances. The changes sparked a flood of requests from lawyers in court to have their clients’ sentences reviewed. Under Spanish law, a minor sentence can be applied retroactively.

“Robbery with violence or intimidation is punishable by two to five years in prison and sexual assault with violence and intimidation from one to four years,” Justice Minister Pilar Llop told Cadena SER radio station. ‘Since when does property have more value than a person’s sexual freedom? We have to correct this,’ she added.

United We Can, for its part, is unhappy with the changes and believes that they will be a step backwards. The party’s spokesman in Congress, Pablo Echenique, wrote on Twitter that Minister Llop herself ‘has confirmed it: they want to return to the old penal code, the ‘did you close your legs?’ one.”

The coalition government lacks an active majority in Congress and needs the support of other parties to pass laws. Unidas Podemos has already made it clear that it will not support the change proposed by the PSOE, nor will other groups that usually support the Government.

However, the main opposition Popular Party (PP) has said it will back the changes, which means they have a chance of prospering.

The PSOE will seek to limit the damage done by the reductions in sentences and releases, given that there will be local and regional elections in May, while general elections will be held at the end of 2023.

Read more:

Explainer: Why Spain’s ‘only yes means yes’ consent law is freeing convicted sex offenders from jail

Explanation: what the new Spanish law ‘only yes is yes’ means for rape victims in Spain