Victims, each time, are less afraid to raise their voices. Society begins to accompany them, to believe them, and this is creating a revolution. Both in the courts and on the street. Faced with power and sexual assaults There is less and less impunity, although only outside the camps. In recent years, the footballers reported for sexual assault or violence There are almost dozens of them and, given that, a climate of security is needed so that victims can report and feel safe, and not singled out.
Take the step and reporting is not an easy decision. However, there are more and more convictions and victims see how their voice is heard and respected within the courtroom. “He has a undoubted positive effect, since it is a thermometer of how society is changing,” says Lucía Avilés, a magistrate expert in gender violence. “Before it was not seen so much with soccer players, but it was with men who had power. For example, there is the ‘Nevenka case’, where in the end there was a very great social silence that even blamed and re-victimized the victim. With the passage of time, the Social evolution has meant that victims are not so alone. Thanks to social changes and the feminist movement, above all, it no longer seems so strange to stand up to men who have some kind of power,” adds the judge.
Dani Alves case
The early morning of January 30 to 31 of last year, the former FC Barcelona player, Dani Alvesallegedly raped a 23-year-old girl in the Sutton nightclub of Barcelona. A few days later, Alves entered provisional prison. The judicial procedure has been processed quickly and the former FC Barcelona and Brazilian national team player will sit in the dock on February 5, 6 and 7.
“It also has a domino effect,” emphasizes the judge, Menina 2022 Award—recognition from the government delegation in the fight against gender violence—. “When there is a case like that of Dani Alves, with that media relevance, encourages women who are going through or have gone through a situation in which they can see themselves reflected and allows them to identify themselves as victims. Also to understand what has happened to them and to find, in some way, strength to be able to face to what it means to file a complaint and initiate a judicial process. There is that mirror effect that helps show the way to follow to people who are hesitating whether to report or not. “Perhaps it is difficult for the person who denounces the famous person to break that barrier,” he adds.
Robinho case
Robson de Souza ‘Robinho’ raped, along with five other friends, a 23-year-old girl in a Milan nightclub, according to a final ruling confirmed by the Italian Supreme Court in January 2022. But the gang rape occurred in January 2013. And Robinho, who took refuge in Brazil, has not spent a single day in prison, although he was sentenced to nine years in prison more than ten years ago.
One of the cases that have shaken the world of football has been that of Dani Alves, former Barça and Brazilian national team player. El Periódico de Catalunya and Prensa Ibérica Studio have produced the podcast ‘On Offside’, which delves into the fall of this sporting myth. These types of cases usually be processed quickly. “All cases that enter the courts are treated in the same way. Within that homogeneity it is true that preference is given to certain cases. Which ones have this preference? Some are urgent, either because the person being investigated is in a provisional prison situation or because it is a case of gender violence. preference is given to cases of sexual assault. What makes something have more preference is neither the victim nor the aggressor, but the subject matter it deals with.. And in this case, in sexual assault it is logical that a certain preference has been given,” reinforces Lucía Avilés.
“Certain issues have been seen here that in the end were nothing more than stereotypes. Both that of the powerful man who always tells the truth, and that of the woman who, in order not to be seen as a profiteer, renounces compensation,” says the magistrate.
Joel Domínguez case
The 18-year-old footballer was sentenced for physical abuse to a sentence of 40 days of community serviceone year of distancing (less than 500 meters) from the victim, the prohibition of any communication with her and two years of deprivation of possession of weapons.
The events took place on the first Sunday of June 2023 in the Tamaraceite area (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), where the aggressor kicked and pushed the victim, being detained in the cells until his appearance before the judge. The presence of three witnesses at the scene, one of them a plainclothes police officer, was key in the trial in which the victim did not want to report or undergo a forensic medical examination to prove the injuries. The sentence was handed down with the agreement of the parties and following the confession of the facts by the player. “Joel Domínguez is a boy who made a mistake,” said the club’s president, Miguel Ángel Ramírez, in a press conference after hearing the sentence, where he ratified the decision to promote the player to play with the first team.
Impunity in the fields
While there is a social movement in the streets in favor of the victims, there are still places that have not yet been imbued with it. For example, soccer fields. “There is a kind of schizophrenia of the institutions. In the end, the sports entities also have a weight, a responsibility. And this has now been demonstrated in the ‘Rubiales case’. The institutions were also being asked for an immediate response. It has a system coherence and social coherence. It cannot be that stadiums are spaces of impunity, when outside of them we are fighting against sexual violence and gender violence. For there to be social coherence, there must also be coherence between all entities and institutions,” denounces Avilés.
Santi Mina case
The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) sentenced footballer Santi Mina, 27, to four years in prison for sexual abuse of a woman in Mojácar (Almería). Mina abused the victim in a van parked in front of a nightclub and now the TSJA judges support the woman’s story, without “relevant contradictions in the essential aspects” about the attack suffered.
This permissiveness, or lack of importance when entering the fields, is a serious blow to the progress that is being made in the courts and on the streets. The fact that sports entities accept and maintain in their disciplines players accused or convicted of sexual violence normalizes a totally unjust situation. “There is a tolerance in relation to this type of crimes.. There is a lot of social tolerance that is reflected in the tolerance of this type of institutions in sports. They are not aware of the damage it can cause for many generations.. There are many young people who follow these footballers and they are fine with everything that player does. They admire them“, denounces Avilés.
Arandina case
The two former Arandina players convicted of sexual assault of a minor under 15 years of age in 2017 They are in prison to serve a sentence of 9 years in prison. In December 2019, the Burgos Court sentenced 38 years in prison for each of the three former Arandina Club de Fútbol players -Carlos Cuadrado ‘Lucho’, Víctor Rodríguez ‘Viti’ and Raúl Calvo- for the sexual assault of a minor on November 24, 2017.
However, upon reviewing the sentence, the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León acquitted Calvo and reduced Cuadrado’s sentence to four years in prison. and Rodríguez to three years qualify the facts as sexual abuse and not assault, as there was no intimidation.
2024-01-28 09:05:06
#Sexual #violence #stains #football #Stadiums #spaces #impunity
