Three new women have come forward with accusations of sexual violence against Spanish filmmaker Carlos Vermut. These revelations are added to the previous complaints of three other women, all of them documented in an investigation published by El País on January 26.
The new accusations, detailed in a report from the same media previously mentioned, come from an artist who now works as a social educator, a cultural manager and an actress. According to the testimonies collected, the events occurred between October 2012 and January 2024.
These stories are added to the previous ones, covering a broader period and providing a more complete picture of the alleged actions of Vermut, winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival for his film Magical Girl in 2014.
The victims, who preferred to remain anonymous, confessed exclusively to El País that they did not file police reports at the time due to a lack of trust in the system to believe their testimonies. However, one of the women did seek support at a public center in Madrid dedicated to comprehensive care for women victims of sexual violence, highlighting the challenges victims face in seeking help and justice.
One of the witnesses explained that the filmmaker “forced her to have anal sex without consent,” and this action caused a “tear.” The same woman revealed that she was forced to have sexual relations with him on more occasions without her consent, such as once “inside her doorway,” and that she hurt him. “It was violence for the sake of violence,” confessed the second witness, the cultural manager in statements to El País, when she narrated a sexual encounter that was marked by “hits” and “strangulations,” among others.
The third woman, who “had a relationship with Vermut from spring 2023 until January,” revealed that the filmmaker forced her to have violent sex on two occasions and that she did not give consent. As a consequence, this woman decided to end the relationship and asked for help from a public center for comprehensive care for women of victims of sexual violence.
According to the aforementioned headline, the actress’s psychologist diagnosed her with insomnia, hypervigilance and anxiety. She confessed that she has had “suicidal thoughts,” and that, after seeing a psychiatrist, she takes anxiolytics. This woman has gone to an office of the Madrid City Council for comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence, according to the same media.
These new accusations come in a broader context of awareness and action against gender violence in the film industry and beyond. According to the Ministry of Equality, only 8% of assaulted women report these crimes, highlighting the urgent need to improve support and protection systems for victims.
