A British tourist has been sentenced to pay a fine of more than 2,000 euros for attempted sexual abuse against a chambermaid in a hotel in Lanzarote. In addition, he has also been banned from approaching the victim within a distance of less than 200 meters, as well as paying the costs of the procedure.
The events occurred on August 10 and the accused himself acknowledged the charges during the trial, accepting a settlement agreement to which La Voz has had access. Initially, the Prosecutor's Office requested a fine of 9 months at a rate of 12 euros per day, but the agreement has meant a reduction of this amount (of 3,240 euros) by a third.
Following the accused's own confession, the sentence considers it proven that at approximately 12:30 p.m., when the victim was performing chambermaid duties in his room, he "approached her and, with the intention of satisfying his sexual desires and without her consent, showed her a text message on his mobile phone that said '59 euros for sexual relations'.". In addition, it adds that he "insisted on it" and even grabbed her arm, until finally the victim "was able to leave" the room.
"Her superiors did not help her and did not believe her"
The case has been publicly denounced by the Las Kellys collective and the 8M Feminist Platform, who have not wanted to make the name of the hotel public to protect the identity of the victim, who they emphasize is 20 years old. However, they point out that the establishment belongs to one of the ten "most excellent" hotel chains in the world according to TripAdvisor.
In a statement, both associations maintain that it was an "attempted rape" and denounce that when the young woman asked her superiors for help after what happened, "they did not help her at all, they did not call a doctor, they did not call the police" and "far from it, they assigned her more work near the room where the crime was committed." "They didn't believe her," they criticize.
Then, the victim called her family and they notified the police and filed the corresponding complaint, and a quick trial was held shortly after, which has ended in a conviction. "Family, police and judge did believe her," emphasize Las Kellys and the 8M Platform.
Criticism also of the works council
"To the seriousness of the act of sexual assault, we must add other no less serious, humiliating and outrageous: the failure to provide assistance by the workplace and its works council, which is evident, and the lack of protocols in the workplace for cases of gender violence," they question, adding that "it is inadmissible that such an event occurs in a large hotel that by law must contemplate an Equality plan that includes actions in cases of harassment and sexist aggressions." "We must say enough is enough and start working so that in Lanzarote also the private company works in the fight against gender violence," they demand.
In addition, they point out that from the Kellys of Lanzarote and the 8M Feminist Platform they are "willing to denounce each case that occurs to raise awareness among the entire population, institutions, large, medium and small companies in the importance of fighting against aggressions towards women, so normalized still in our society."
"We are not going to take a step back in the path taken in the fight against gender violence and we are going to stand in front of everyone who does not comply with the laws established to defend women. We are tired of attempts to silence cases like the one that has now happened and that clearly sexist attitudes continue to be fueled and justified," they warn.
"The institutions are leaving much to be desired"
In addition, they ask for collaboration from the institutions, "which in reality are leaving much to be desired on our island in supporting the fight of women." "Good words on covers, discussions and interviews are not enough, we ask the Cabildo and town councils for means of action and sufficient resources. The existing ones are clearly deficient, many victims are left alone, without support. It is shameful for the whole society that after a rape or a beating you have to wait weeks to receive help, psychological and legal support, thus suffering a double humiliation, that of your aggressor and that of the institution in charge of helping," they question.
For this reason, they demand that equality plans and action protocols be drawn up in the face of sexist aggressions, with the corresponding training of personnel from both private and public companies. "It is time to learn and stop justifying ourselves for ignorance. We must work to make an egalitarian society between all of us", they demand.