The PSOE is willing to negotiate and accept technical amendments proposed by the Popular Party to the Socialists’ bill to reform the sexual freedom law, better known as the ‘only yes is yes’ law.
Sources from the federal leadership acknowledge that some of the amendments presented by the PP in Congress are “technical” and are “well planned” for which, they admit, they do not see problems in reaching an agreement and saving the parliamentary process of the reform.
However, the Socialists point out that the negotiation with the PP will never be related to the increase in penalties but rather to solve technical issues of the norm to curb this “undesired effect” derived from the entry into force of the law, which has produced close to 1,000 reductions in sentences and almost 100 releases of sexual offenders.
The bill that the PSOE presented in the Congrego began its process thanks to the support of the PP before the contrary vote of its partner in the Executive -Unidas Podemos-. Now, Unidas Podemos has presented an amendment to the PSOE proposal hand in hand with ERC and EH Bildu, which the Socialists have rejected because they are sure that the measure that solves the “error” of the law is the PSOE proposal.
Although in the PSOE they are so convinced that their measure amends the “undesired effects” of the reduction of sentences for those convicted of sexual crimes, they are open to negotiating with the PP their technical amendments because they recognize that there are aspects proposed by the popular ones that endorse the purpose of reforming the law without touching the consent as the core of it.
In the PSOE they consider that “it is important not to confuse closure with feminism” and downplay the effect that the opposite position of United We Can have with this reform, to the point that, politically, they consider that this issue is already on track, once the reform was registered. Now, they maintain, it is time to materialize it and they do not mind going into it with the PP hand in hand.
Precisely, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, went a step further in this matter and today offered an apology to the women victims of sexual violence for the “undesired effects” caused by the application of the law.
“What I can tell you is that if you have to apologize to the victims, I apologize to the victims for these unwanted effects. I believe that no deputy, even those who have voted against this law, is in favor of lowering the sentencesâ€, Sánchez acknowledges for the first time in the interview carried out with Colpisa and published this Sunday by the newspapers of the Vocento group.
