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MADRID, April 16 (AP) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez apologized Sunday to victims of a government-backed sexual freedom law passed last October that aimed to strengthen protections for women but had no intention of Hundreds of convicted sex offenders received reduced sentences.
The legislation, dubbed the “Only Yes Means” law, is due to be reformed next week to address loopholes in the law after months of debate and tensions between two left-wing coalition partners in government – the majority Socialist Party and the Unidas Podemos, the small party that sponsored the law.
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“No legislator, not even those who voted against this law, is in favor of reducing sentences. So, I apologize to the victims, and we will find a way to address these unintended effects, because that is the best way to defend the law itself,” Sanchez said in an interview with local media on the sidelines of upcoming regional election campaigns. Spain holds general elections on May 28.
Courts have commuted the sentences of 978 sex offenders under the Sexual Freedom Act, and at least 104 offenders have been released early, according to the latest official figures.
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The law makes verbal consent, or lack thereof, a key factor in cases of alleged sexual assault. However, it also revises the minimum and maximum sentences for sexual assault convictions, allowing judges to reduce sentences on appeal for rapists and abusers by shortening convictions by months or even years. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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