Sister, I do believe you.

If by chance you read this, I want you to know that I do believe you and that I know I'm far from alone. That you're not alone, and that there are many of us who never doubted your testimony. That you did the right thing by trusting those who initially activated the sexual assault protocol, just as you did by going to Hospital Clínic, which is the referral center for these cases. That your initial decision to renounce the compensation money moved me because I felt your fierce desire to be believed as my own, but that I was overjoyed when you changed your mind because being financially compensated was, and is, your right, and I understood that you were gaining strength and increasing your confidence in yourself and in your lawyer.

I'd also like to tell you that I can't imagine what you must have suffered when Dani Alves's entourage, with the help of the manosphere, spread images of you, your name and surname, and that continuing to live your life, going out, dancing, enjoying yourself, and laughing despite the psychological after-effects of the assault—which the ruling of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia doesn't deny—demonstrates the enormous desire you have to live it, not the absence of harm. And from here on, do what you want, what comes to you, what your body tells you to and what your mind lets you. You don't have to be an example for anything or anyone; you're not obliged to be the perfect victim, as they're demanding of you.

The ruling in the Alves case was described as exemplary because of the legal arguments put forward, which placed consent at the center. The court found it proven that "the accused roughly grabbed the complainant, threw her to the floor, and, preventing her from moving, penetrated her vaginally, despite the complainant's continued refusal to leave." Alves changed his story up to five times; he went from not knowing who she was to claiming she had attacked him, but the victim's credibility is what is being questioned now. We are encouraged to report because if we remain silent, it's bad; if we use social media anonymously, it's bad; and if we don't go to court, it's bad. But when we do, the standards and norms we must follow are so rigid, so stereotypical, so impossible that it's not bad, it's worse. So I end as I began. Don't doubt it: sister, I do believe you.