Many things have been said and written about the Alves case, but only now with a sentence we are not walking on quicksand. The Barcelona Court this Thursday sentenced the footballer to 4 and a half years in prison for a crime of sexual assault and considers it proven that he raped a young woman in the bathroom of a booth at a nightclub in the Catalan capital. I have no doubt that this same case in the past would not have had the course and ending it has had now. A young woman, almost a girl, dared to confront a sports star. Specifically, the second footballer with the most titles in a professional career, exactly 43 cups – the first is none other than Leo Messi, with 44.
“They're not going to believe me, they're not going to believe me,” the young woman said in her first statements to the police. Opposite was a famous person who believed he was unpunished and who decided to come to Barcelona to appear before the court, convinced that nothing would happen to him. It is worth remembering that the footballer could have been confined in Brazil and, as there is no extradition agreement with this country, he could have perfectly stayed there.
Therefore, a first consideration is a triumph of justice. It may be criticized that the sentence could have been reduced due to Alves' advance payment of 150,000 euros to the victim and that this figure is not within the reach of many citizens. And that the final sentence is very far from what the prosecution and the Prosecutor's Office requested. That said, we can imagine how many thousands of women in the past have experienced similar situations of this type and have not dared to report it because, faced with the testimony of a famous person... “they are not going to believe me.” This fear begins to be lost.
And the ruling provides a second consideration that must be taken into account in relation to consent to sex between adults: “The fact that the complainant danced in a suggestive manner does not mean giving carte blanche to any abuse or aggression that occurs subsequently.” Or put more directly, a woman's seductive insinuation does not later authorize the man to overstep his bounds as and when he wants. Society is advancing.
