The elimination of sexual abuse due to the invalid consent of the victim over the age of sixteen and under the age of eighteen following the law on the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom

Abstract

The approval of Organic Law 10/2022, of 6 September, on the comprehensive guarantee of sexual freedom, has eliminated the traditional distinction that existed in the Spanish legal system between sexual aggression and sexual abuse, now considering any attack against sexual freedom as a case of aggression. In this sense, prior to the reform, among the crimes against sexual freedom and indemnity, there was a criminal provision that punished the so-called sexual abuse with invalid consent in relation to subjects over the age of sixteen, but under the age of eighteen, granting these victims a specific protection that was being highly questioned by the doctrine and which is now disappearing. Thus, this research work aims to analyse whether the subjects between these ages are left unprotected with the new regulation or whether, on the contrary, there has been an improvement in this area.