Feminists respond to Alves' acquittal: "It sends the message that it's not worthwhile to report."

BarcelonaFeminism describes the ruling as a "step backwards" The Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) annuls the conviction of Dani Alves for sexual assault, on December 31, 2022, in the Sutton courtroom in Barcelona. "The first sentence was a good summary of what the law of the only yes is yes (Law 10/2022 on the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom") and the element of consent, for the TSJC is its entire responsibility," says advocate Sònia Ricondo, member of the Night Observatory, dedicated to analyzing sexual violence in nightlife.

Sexual violence is one of the most frequently reported violence. It is estimated that 90% of the attacks go unpunished because the woman does not report them. However, Ricondo fears that a sentence that questions the victim's story has a "dissuasive" effect.

After arriving at the sentence, Ricondo, who specializes in sexual violence, points out that common arguments in sexual violence crimes can be used with the focus on the credibility of the woman's testimony. "It's not that Creguin is not the victim, but that there are aspects that do not fit," says the lawyer. This interpretation has the great risk that certain sectors will read the sentence as a correction and generate "a space of impunity." The lawyer refers to the fact that the court (three female judges and one judge) sends a message "that the victim was lying and that Alves is innocent."

In this same regard, psychologist Alba Alfageme maintains that the sentence is "gasoline for the discourse of confrontation", precisely at a time when those who believe that women and feminism "are gaining ground"They have gone too far and gone too far", in the words of anthropologist Ana Burgos, coordinator of theNight Owl Observatory. This one reproaches the judges for "rearming the machosphere [websites and forums that promote toxic masculinity and anti-feminism] and machismo," and providing arguments for the "patriarchal narrative."

What is the perfect victim like?

The three professionals agree that the text recasts the broken stereotype of what "the perfect victim or the good victim" of sexual assault should be like—that is, how an assaulted woman is supposed to behave to be credible. "Even what injuries she must present," notes attorney Ricondo, who also laments that the judges display a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of sexual violence. From their experience, the experts agree that there is no single way to be a victim, and only the persistence of retrograde machismo seeks to portray a woman who must physically lock herself away and publicly display her emotional suffering. "It's the patriarchy's way of putting women in the place it believes they deserve," Burgos indicates.

That's why Alfageme criticizes the judges for giving "so much importance to the prelude" to the assault, considering that the woman and the attacker may have had a consensual relationship, but, on the other hand, they ignore the victim's "subsequent reaction" upon leaving the nightclub's private room. Her cries alerted the Sutton staff, who immediately activated the sexual violence protocol and requested the presence of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police).

Mechanism of sexual violence

Questioning the victim also involves questioning or ignoring consent, the element that – by law of the only yes is yes– was placed at the center of sexual relations, Ricondo indicates. Furthermore, Burgos emphasizes that the judges also demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of sexual violence and its consequences for the victims. Thus, he asserts that due to the trauma suffered, they often present a disjointed, inaccurate, and incomplete account of the events. However, in this case, Alves's complainant always maintained the same version of how the attack occurred, and it was the former footballer who kept changing it: he went from asserting that it was a consensual relationship to the young woman attacking him.