© Reuters
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Debt payment through sex is not a crime if both parties have agreed to it. this is confirms by the Spanish Constitutional Court in a decision rejecting the complaint of a 38-year-old woman from Mallorca against her ex-brother-in-law that she was forced to do so because she had to pay 15,000 euros.
Before a court in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands) and later before the Constitutional Court, she claimed that she was forced to have oral sex after her ex-husband’s brother asked for a loan to be repaid in this way.
According to her, financial difficulties forced her to turn to him (and the two were on good terms). At first they did not specify the terms of payment, but later told her that she had to “pay him two or three times a week” in this way, and she felt “psychologically indebted” and did so five times. Her idea was to pay little by little when she had the opportunity, but one day she heard the threat from him: “As long as the debt to me remains, you will be my mistress.”
The 58-year-old man’s version is different. According to him, a deal was reached for the two to “have sex” in exchange for him serving her 15,000 euros without interest. In his words, “the requirement to execute a previously accepted deal is not a crime.”
He explained in court that his ex-girlfriend had changed her mind about their meetings, requested a change in conditions and only then lodged a complaint.
What does the court actually mean?
However, the Balearic judge saw no evidence of sexual assault or coercion – the two agreed “freely” and the deal stopped only when the agreement disappeared on one side. The only consequence of this is related to the claims for debt payment.
There have also been criticisms of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, but it does not consider whether fellatio payment is legal or not, but only the Palma de Mallorca court ruling that it is not a crime to ask for such a form of payment (moreover, if the other party agrees). The court in Palma considers that the consent is enough not to rule in favor of the woman.
There were also opinions that the court had in fact normalized such debt dependencies (but also others – that the higher court does not consider whether such an act is criminal or whether the contract is applicable, but only whether the other party has accepted).
Minister for Gender Equality Irene Montero expressions on Twitter last year after his sentence after the Palma verdict, he said: “A desperate woman begs her brother-in-law for help. To give her money, he forces her to be his” mistress “and fellatio him. When she can’t do more, he threatens to act against her and her daughter in court. She denounces him and that’s what happens. “
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