“You’re going to fuck because I want to”

The fourth section of the Pontevedra Provincial Court sentenced a man to 21 years in prison for repeatedly raping and beating his partner. He found him guilty in particular of two crimes of sexual assault, two of wounding in the area of … violence against women and mild coercion against their partners. “You’re going to fuck a whore because I want to,” he once told her, as the line goes. The court, however, acquitted him of the offense of habitual violence in matters of violence against women for which he had also been accused.

The respondent had a romantic relationship with the victim for a year, during which the events occurred. In one of the episodes, he repeatedly kicked and punched her on the body and forced her to have sex against her will, “from a dominant male position.” Another time, after assaulting and hitting her, he kicked her out of her own apartment “wearing only a T-shirt, preventing her from entering the house and having to ask a neighbor for help,” who lent him the phone to call the police.

The court based its decision mainly on the victim’s statement, considered “consistent and persistent”, and considered that it was reinforced by the statements of witnesses and police officers, who confirmed the state of the woman and the circumstances following the attacks.

The award is not final, since it can be appealed to the Superior Court of Xustiza de Galicia (TSXG).