Spain
Women are filmed peeing at a festival and end up on porn sites – lawsuit dismissed
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A Spanish court has dismissed a case in which women were secretly filmed peeing in public and the tormentors then published the material on porn sites. Women’s rights organizations are shocked.
In 2019, a total of 87 women were filmed peeing wild at the “A Maruxaina” festival in Cervo, Spain. After that, the material landed on various porn sites, sometimes even showing the genitals and faces of those affected in close-up.
When they found out about this a little later, they took legal action against the authors of the videos, who are still unknown to this day: The women still insist that investigations be carried out into who is involved in these videos. At the same time, they require that the videos be taken down from the pages. They see their right to privacy violated.
Judge dismisses suit
A judge now dismissed the case in court on the grounds that the videos had been recorded in a public place, there could be no question of it being a criminal offense. And although the women’s rights organization “Women for Equality Burela (Bumei)” has appealed, the lawyer sticks to his opinion. According to the court documents, according to the judge, there was “no intention to harm the physical or moral resistance” of the women concerned.
I just panicked
A woman told the BBC how she felt when she found out about the video recordings. A friend told her that there were recordings of her on a porn site. “And when I saw the video, I cried, I was really embarrassed, I didn’t really know what to do” and added: “I just panic.”
Like many other sufferers, the woman then began therapy. But the latest court ruling brought out the pain again. “It’s so frustrating,” she says. “They’re basically saying that it’s okay for someone to film you on the street and then post you on a porn site to make money.”
Women appeal again
Ana García of Women for Equality Burela (Bumei) warns that this case could set a precedent that would in future grant impunity to those who take such recordings. “Just because you are in a public space does not mean that filming intimate images and then distributing them is not a criminal offense, because this is about fundamental rights,” she told the BBC.
The decision not to pursue the case has sparked protests and an online campaign under the hashtag #XustizaMaruxaina (Justice Maruxaina). The women concerned are now appealing again. This time before the provincial court in Lugo, hoping that the case will finally be investigated.
Source: “BBC “
This article originally appeared on stern.de.