Spain’s parliament on Thursday adopted the final form of a law that would make explicit consent mandatory for sexual intercourse, otherwise it could be considered rape under the provisions of this new law, which is being pushed by the left-wing government after a gang rape in 2018, AFP reported. Agerpres.

“Our country has finally enshrined consent as a central element in our sexual relationships. Women will no longer need to prove that there was violence or intimidation during the attack in order for it to be recognized as sexual violence,” Spain’s Equality Minister Irene Montero said of the law, which has been dubbed “only yes is yes”.

Spain’s left-wing government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, says it was inspired on the express consent issue by the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, a convention adopted by six EU member states ( Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia) did not ratify it, believing that it promotes gender ideology.

Irene Montero acknowledged that the new law was inspired by a similar law passed in Sweden, a country that has seen an increase in rape convictions since its introduction.

Establishing explicit consent so that sexual intercourse is not considered rape is a minority practice in Europe, but the European Commission presented in March a draft directive aimed at unifying the definition of the crime of rape in all 27 EU member states, in the sense that this crime is established for any – any “non-consensual” sexual relations, without the need to prove the threat or use of force.

The Spanish government also motivated the adoption of this law by a case of gang rape that happened in 2018, the so-called “pack” case, in which 5 men were sentenced to 15 years in prison after raping a girl. for 18 years in Pamplona.

Spain has been considered a country at the forefront of feminism since the 2004 adoption, under the previous socialist government, of a law that introduced gender discrimination as an aggravating circumstance of violence.