The case of Gisèle Pelicot tried in France is extreme and brutal for various reasons: the number of attackers and the techniques applied by her then partner, Dominique Pelicot, to rape her and invite other men to do so modus operandi which shook society. But even though it is not the most common case of sexual violence, the reality is that, fundamentally, it is not that exceptional. That a man feels that he has the right to dispose of the body of his female partner and rape her is more common than it seems. That same week, director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa presented her series To want, it is precisely about a woman who accuses her ex-husband of continuous sexual abuse after 30 years of marriage.
“It is a violence that is socially much more expensive to understand and conceive, but nevertheless many cases reach us. In the Pelicot case, there are elements that catch our attention like the chemical submission or the fact that it lasted ten years, but in reality we are still talking about the same thing: how trust, intimacy and closeness can be used against women to cause harm. “, declares Carla Vall, lawyer expert in gender-based violence.
Faced with the widespread myth that sexual assaults are perpetrated by strangers, monsters who attack their victims at night, the data points in another direction: the vast majority are committed by known men who do not need extreme physical violence to attack. According to the latest study by SEXVIOL, a research network of several public universities, 68% of those surveyed belong to the immediate environment. And among them, intimate partners or former partners acquire a significant weight – 17.42% –. Furthermore, according to the latest macro survey on violence against women, more women have been victims of attacks by a partner or ex-partner (8.9%) than any other other man (6.5%).
However, much of this violence continues to go unnoticed, “underreported” and “riddled with invisibility,” says gender studies doctor and sexual violence expert Bárbara Tardón. “This imaginary of the outsider that rape culture itself has generated implies that when violence does not occur in this way, it is more difficult to identify. Sexual violence perpetrated by a boyfriend, husband or partner is generally not depicted, meaning that the forms of coercion couples engage in to force victims into non-consensual sex are not equally recognized .
55% of the decisions analyzed concerning sexual violence between couples resulted in the acquittal of the accused, a considerably higher figure than in the rest of the cases (37.8%).
Although the Pelicot case is not the most common, sexual assaults against the couple “are committed in all forms” and generally continue over time: there are aggressors who use force and violence, but in many cases “what is it?” violence” by which women “are forced” because of the risk “that saying no implies punishment” for the victim, summarizes the expert.
Experts also talk about the “stigma and shame” that inherently involves being visible as a victim of sexual assault and which is heightened when the person committing it is someone who, supposedly, loves you. This is a “compromising step,” in Tardón’s words. “Accepting it is very difficult. No one wants to assume that they are a victim because in addition to involving a series of costs, feelings, judgments and prejudices that come from the point of view of others, in these cases it means accepting to live or have shared your life with someone who did something like that to you.
Fewer convictions
But furthermore, when these cases come to trial, they face even greater obstacles. This is the conclusion of several recent studies, which show that when the aggressor is a partner or ex-spouse, violence “is less condemned, less punished and less compensation is recognized”, suggests research published last year. last in review European Journal of Criminal Policy and Research.
After analyzing a thousand sentences handed down by provincial courts between 2015 and 2022, the authors found that in cases where an intimate partner is involved, there were 62.5% of convictions, a percentage that rises to 79, 1% when the attacker was someone else. The average sentence in the first case was 83.4 months in prison, compared to 98.7 when the rapist was an unknown person. And the same goes for compensation: the average compensation if the attacker is in a relationship is 12,572 and 17,778 if he is not.
Another study awaiting publication promoted by the Antígona group, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, suggests, with different figures, the same conclusion: 55% of the decisions analyzed on sexual violence in couples resulted in acquittal of the accused, a considerable figure higher than in the rest of the cases (37.8%). “Myths continue to have an impact in the courts and this happens because socially we continue to perceive this violence as less serious,” explains María Barcons, doctor of law and researcher from Antigona.
The survey on the perception of sexual violence published by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) at the end of January 2023 is revealing. To a question as explicit as whether forcing your partner to have sex should be punishable by law, two in ten people answered no.
Vall also underlines “the lesser credibility” which these victims generally have in the eyes of justice and the “difficulty” which exists in proving the violence. “This case should teach us that we must believe the victims’ word and that the important thing is to investigate and look for evidence that can support it. Dominique Pelicot, after being caught recording several women in a supermarket, had videos and photos of the abuse seized, but what would have happened if we had only had Gisèle’s word? It is generally more difficult to prove that there is no hidden interest or desire to harm beyond obtaining justice. »
In fact, questioning the victim about consent or not “is generally greater and harsher”, explains Barcons, who shows how “the aggressors’ defenses use it in their strategies”. Indeed, among the 50 men tried in Avignon for having raped Gisèle while she slept, some defended themselves by arguing that they thought the victim agreed, even if they did not speak to her, and that they thought it was a “liberal couple”. For others, the husband’s consent was enough.
“Marital duty”
However, the reality is that this violence barely appears in court, even though it is generally part of the gender-based violence that around 200,000 women denounce each year. “In the majority of cases of gender-based violence, there is sexual violence and many other forms of violence such as psychological or economic violence. However, the emphasis is generally placed on physical attacks, beatings… and sexual assaults end up being ignored,” explains Barcons. Data from the General Council of the Judiciary bears this out: in 2023, the last year with figures complete, only 1.3% of crimes investigated in court for violence against women concerned sexual freedom and compensation – 2,800 out of a total of 222,000.
It must be taken into account that it was only in 1989 that the Penal Code began to recognize sexual violence within marriage. Today we can no longer speak of the gendered mandate of marital duty, as was done before, but this idea continues in part to permeate the imagination.
Barbara Tardon
This does not only happen at the judicial level, Tardón believes. “In victim care resources, until relatively recently, sexual violence was not targeted and risk assessments have also evolved in this direction. »
All of this is influenced by stereotypes, emergencies, myths, and the difficulty of socially assuming that your partner may be your rapist. In this sense, Tardón reflects on the role that the traditional conception of marriage plays in the “undervaluation at all levels” of the violence that occurs there. “We must keep in mind that it was only in 1989 that the Penal Code began to recognize sexual violence in marriage, that is to say two days ago. Today we can no longer speak of the gendered mandate of marital duty, as was done before, but this idea partly continues to permeate the imagination.
The survey on the perception of sexual violence published by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) at the end of January 2023 is revealing. To a question as explicit as whether forcing your partner to have sex should be punishable by law, two in ten people answered no.
