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ARCHIVED - Spanish police officer faces sexual assault charges for grabbing the breasts of a female activist
The alleged sexual misconduct was filmed during a Femen protest in Madrid last year
The High Court in Madrid has charged a police officer with a crime of sexual assault, alleging that he grabbed the breasts of a Femen activist during a protest before the Senate on November 20 last year.
Femen is an international feminist movement whose ultimate goal is to achieve “complete victory over patriarchy,” according to the group’s website. The women routinely protest topless, with slogans printed across their breasts, and advocate for a society where the church is prohibited from interfering in “the civic, sex and reproductive lives of modern women”.
The alleged sexual assault occurred while three members of Femen, including the victim, were demonstrating against a rally organised by the Spanish Catholic Movement on the anniversary of Franco’s death.
After determining that the evidence suggests “the possible existence of a crime,” the head of the Court will take a statement from the officer, who is a member of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP), Madrid’s riot police, this week.During the course of the protest in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid, which Femen activists take part in every year, the complainant alleges that, while other policemen detained the other protesters “with evident professionalism,” one of the men grabbed her from behind and squeezed her breasts with both hands.
This “was obviously unnecessary for the arrest,” she said, “abusing his position of superiority and making use of his status as an agent of authority.”
Both the plaintiff and the defendant have been summoned to testify on April 12 and 13.
Images: Femen
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