The minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, has announced that she will soon appear in the Congress of Deputies to outline some «lines of work» and the development of the State Pact against Gender Violence, including the training of judges to «avoid some sentences,» in relation to the case of former FC Barcelona footballer Dani Alves, acquitted of the crime of sexual assault for which he was convicted.
«Next, I will make an appearance in the Congress of Deputies, precisely to establish the lines of work and the development of the State Pact against Gender Violence, being very aware that the training of judges is one of the keys to avoiding some sentences,» Redondo said on Tuesday in the Senate plenary session.
This was stated on Tuesday in response to a question from Senator PNV, María Dolores Etxano, about whether she considers that the reinforcements announced by the Government in the Courts of Violence against Women will guarantee the care of victims of sexual violence, as provided for in the Organic Law on comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom.
The PNV senator pointed out that «the recent acquittal ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia» on the ‘Alves case’ «once again raises» the issue of the training of judges.
«Justice urgently needs to effectively integrate a gender perspective into its structures, practices, and resolutions. The ruling reflects a worrying structural lack of a gender approach in legal analysis. It is not enough to apply criminal types. It is necessary to understand that sexual violence does not occur in a vacuum, but in a context of structural inequality that conditions how victims narrate, survive, and seek justice,» she emphasized.
Therefore, she advocated for «mandatory training in sexual violence and gender perspective for the entire judicial career, not as a complement, but as a transversal and permanent structural requirement.»
In this sense, Ana Redondo agreed that the recent ruling of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia «really surprises» for how the evidence is interpreted and how the law is applied.
Thus, the Minister of Equality defended that «the gender perspective is essential in all branches of the Justice Administration, but very specifically in judges and prosecutors.»
Therefore, she assured that they will continue working in that direction and that they have to be «much more incisive» in that «specific training» of judges, female judges, magistrates, and also the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Precisely, Redondo revealed that last week they had a meeting with the president of the Observatory against Gender Violence of the General Council of the Judiciary, Esther Erice, to «establish a schedule.»
«That training, we understand, not only has to be directed at judges of gender violence, but generally to all judges, female judges, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office,» she insisted.
FUENTE