Hundreds march in Spain to demand finish of violence towards girls By Reuters

By Elena Rodriguez

MADRID (Reuters) – Hundreds of individuals took to the streets in Madrid and Barcelona on Friday night in marches to mark the Worldwide Day for the Elimination of Violence towards Girls.

In Madrid, protesters, many carrying purple, marched down the Gran By way of within the metropolis centre carrying banners and chanting “no isn’t any, the rest is rape”, and “we girls usually are not items”. In Barcelona individuals banged drums and lit flares.

Since 2003, when statistics began to formally rely fatalities, 1,171 girls have died on account of gender violence in Spain, in keeping with the Ministry of Equality. To this point in 2022, 38 girls have died.

“I’ve come right here due to the issue of gender violence, due to all of the deaths which are occurring, the mistreatment of girls…” mentioned trainer and Madrid resident Susana Rita, 42.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez requested males on Friday to step ahead to cease machismo.

“Male violence is a tragic actuality that shames us each day,” he mentioned at a Socialist Occasion occasion.

The protests come after it emerged that some males have had jail sentences lowered due to a loophole in a brand new regulation governing penalties for sexual abuse, inflicting fury and heated debate amongst politicians.

The regulation, referred to as the “solely sure means sure” regulation, classifies any non-consensual intercourse as rape but additionally units lighter minimal sentences for sure sexual crimes.

Not less than 11 convicted sexual abusers have had their jail phrases lowered and 5 males have been launched from jail, in keeping with Europa Press information company.

Chants of “solely sure means sure” rang by the crowds on Friday night. (This story has been refiled to repair a typo within the third paragraph)