Any unwanted sexual contact is a crime, however brief, Supreme Court rules
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 @ 11:22 AM
SPAIN'S Supreme Court has ruled that any and all physical contact of a sexual nature, where deliberate, and irrespective of how brief it is, counts as a criminal offence.
This ground-breaking and necessary verdict means grabbing someone's bottom, breast or legs in a pub, a crowd or on public transport, for example, is no longer simply a tort or civil offence but attracts criminal charges on the grounds of 'sexual abuse'.
This interpretation of Article 181 of the Penal Code clarifies the situation for many victims – the vast majority women, with the bulk of offenders being men – since verdicts in lower courts have varied between jailing the authors of this behaviour for sexual abuse and dismissing it as 'nothing'.
The latter verdict was particularly the case when groping was very brief and the court considered it had been too fleeting for the victim to suffer any psychological damage.
But now, however swiftly it happens, it is still considered a crime.
The severity of it dictates whether the offender is sentenced to the minimum of six months in jail or the maximum of two years – although a custodial term of less than two years does not have to be served if it is for a first offence – or a daily fine of between 18 and 24 months.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com