The Provincial Court of Navarre has decided to release on bail the five men it considers guilty of abusing an 18-year-old girl during the San Fermín festival in Pamplona in 2016.
The decision is a new blow to a society that is aware of the fight against male violence and once again, thousands of women have taken to the streets to show their indignation against a judicial decision that we feel is a new violation of our rights.
The case of “the pack” has shocked the whole country, especially feminism, which claims that it is not about abuse, but about rape. To the cry of No is NO, we women stand up to a patriarchal justice that is alien to our demands and obsolete in its laws.
The decision of provisional release is accompanied by a series of measures such as a ban on contacting the victim, entry to the Community of Madrid (place of residence of the young woman), withdrawal of the passport and a ban on leaving the territory.
And, you will believe that with these preventive measures, the victim can rest assured. But the image of the guilty enjoying a privilege that should never have been granted, of walking around freely in public as if nothing had happened, as if the life of a woman had not been destroyed in that dirty portal, is a devastating image because of the message it transmits to the whole of society.
The victim does not deserve this contempt for her pain, a pain that does not have a time ¨provisional¨ , nor is her life what it should be.
A patriarchal Justice that places man at the centre of the Universe and interprets it according to his gender: the same one that violates us, the same one that kills us, the same one that judges us, the same one that nullifies us, the same one that places us in a position of continuous vulnerability.
Patriarchal justice does not understand the weariness and pain of women. They still don’t listen, they don’t understand our voices that resound loudly in the streets and squares. We will continue to do so so that such terrible events do not occur and, above all, we will not remain silent in the face of the ignominy to which you, ladies and gentlemen, have condemned all of us, minimising our pain in this car which determines that the guilty parties can now avail themselves of a benefit that leaves them free.
It is the victim who has no provisional or permanent privileges. She is the one who has been deprived of her freedom, because fear paralyzes and prevents her from living freely, as all women should live freely and safely. It’s your responsibility, your responsibility, ladies and gentlemen.

Marina is a member of DiEM25’s Spanish PNC.

Photo by CANVALCA (under Creative Commons 4.0 license)

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