Adultery in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition was a criminal offense which was defined as sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband, and could lead to prison terms of between six months and six years. By contrast, the related crime for male infidelity was not treated the same: it was called amancebamiento and was defined as a married man keeping a mistress in the conjugal home, or keeping a mistress in a notorious manner outside the conjugal home.[1][2] Adultery (adulterio) was often prosecuted, but not amancebamiento, with male infidelity being "a state of mind in Spain".[3]
In the period between 1944 and 1963, blood revenge was allowed for husbands who caught their wives in bed with other men. This allowed the husbands to injure or kill them with no real penal or civil punishment, with only the symbolic punishment of destierro.[4] Many women were imprisoned in the Francoist period for adultery, but the topic was little discussed in wider society.
Before the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, women had already started to mobilize to see the adultery law overturned. This movement accelerated during the post-Franco transition to democracy (1975-1982). Adultery court cases, like the mid-1976 cases of Inmaculada Benito and María Ángeles Muñoz, mobilized feminists and their allies to take to the streets in a strengthened call to overturn the law. This finally happened on 26 May 1978 when adultery was eliminated as a criminal offense in Spain's penal code, with the repeal of Articles 449 and 452.
Women in Spain during the Franco regime had very few legal rights.[5] For example, until 1975, without her husband's consent (referred to as permiso marital), a wife was prohibited from employment, traveling away from home, and property ownership.[6] In addition, male sexuality and female sexuality were treated differently by law and society, influenced by the traditional gender roles of machismo and marianismo. Although women were expected to guard their "chastity", there was very little protection from child sexual abuse, with the country having very lax laws on child protection: the age of consent in Spain was only 12 (The age of consent was raised to 13 in 1999, and to 16 in 2015, with a close in age exemption for partners who are "close in age and level of development or maturity"; the marriageable age was also raised from 14 to 16.)[7]
The Penal Code of 1870 was reintroduced in 1944, making adultery a criminal offense.[8] Women could be sent to prison for committing adultery.[9] Women could also lose custody of their children.[10] Article 449 of the Penal Code stated, "Adultery will be punished with the penalty of minor prison terms. The married woman who lies with a man who is not her husband commits adultery, as does the one who lies with her, knowing that she is married, even if the marriage is declared null and void." It continued: "No penalty shall be imposed for the crime of adultery except by virtue of the grievance of the aggrieved husband". And it was still completed with one more article, "The husband may at any time remit the sentence imposed on his consort."[11][12] A woman could not report her husband to the authorities for committing acts of infidelity, unless he kept a mistress inside the conjugal house or flagrantly outside it, and this crime was almost never prosecuted. [13]
The regime's adultery laws were based on the Siete Partidas, established by Alfonso X, and designed to punish women for having sex outside of marriage.[14] These laws would remain on the books until 1978.[15]
The 1944 Penal Code allowed for blood revenge to be punished with the symbolic sentence of destierro, but only in cases where a husband caught his wife in the sexual act of committing adultery, not when a wife caught her husband.[16][17] The law also stated fathers could kill their daughters if she was 22 years old or younger, and they caught her having sex with a man with the same symbolic punishment of exile from their home at a distance greater than 25 kilometers for a few years and there was no punishment if the husband/father only gave injuries not classed as "grave" to his wife/daughter. The code said, "The husband who, if his wife is caught in adultery, will kill the woman or the adulterer on the spot or cause them one of the serious injuries, will be punished with banishment. If he causes them second-class injuries, he will be free of punishment. These rules are applicable to fathers in the same circumstances, with respect to their daughters under twenty-three years of age and their corruptors, as long as they lived in their father's house.[18] Protests had taken place in the 1920s by women opposed to earlier versions of the law, found in Article 438."[19]
The blood revenge law was rescinded in 1963, with husbands and fathers no longer having the right to kill wives or daughters caught engaging in elicit sex acts.[8][16][17] Lots of women and some men were in prison for offenses relating to adultery. They were rarely talked about.[14] Starting in 1975, before the death of Franco, women had started to mobilize by taking to the streets to demand the decriminalization of adultery.[14]
Caserón de la Goleta, the prison for women in Málaga, held thousands of women over its history. Women found themselves there for a wide variety of offenses including adultery, divorce or lesbian relationships.[20] Divorce was illegal in Spain during Franco era and was legalized in 1981.[21]
In the immediate post-Franco era, feminists in Spain were united in their goal to eliminate the law that made adultery a criminal offense. Their efforts were supported by many anonymous women and some men. They found support in their goals from progressive political parties.[22]
Inmaculada Benito and María Ángeles Muñoz were two of the last women in Spain to be tried for adultery, only escaping prison when the adultery law was repealed in 1978.[14] Their cases were brought in mid-1976.[11] At the time, Benito was a 21-year-old medical student from Zaragoza while Muñoz was a 30-year-old domestic worker living in Barcelona. Both had dependent children and both had separated from their husbands.[14] In December 1976, two women were accused of adultery in Lugo and Pontevedra. The woman from Lugo was acquitted but the woman in Pontevedra was ordered to serve a six-month prison sentence and pay a fine of 100 pesetas. Their cases started after those of Benito and Muñoz.[11]
Inmaculada Benito asked Gloria Labarta to represent her in her adultery case. Labarta explained Benito's request as, "She had already gone to several lawyers and everyone told her that she would be punished. I, on the other hand, told her that first, her husband would have to prove adultery, that just because she went on a boat with a man did not mean she had slept with him."[14] Benito had been separated from her spouse, painter Carmelo Caneiro, almost since she had married him at the age of 18. Benito thought she had a good relationship with Caneiro. After finding a new partner, she left her son with him and went to seek work in the Canary Islands.[14][11] According to Labarta, "The problem arose because the husband's family did not let the maternal grandparents see the infant. [Benito] returned and, then, they did not want to return the baby." It amounted to a custody dispute that quickly escalated to an adultery accusation as there was no other legal recourse for custody disagreements.[14] The prosecutor requested Benito be imprisoned for six years, pay a fine of 5 million pesetas and lose custody of her children.[11]
Labarta's approach to the case was to question the law itself. In her own words she explains, "We did it through an association to which I also belonged, the Democratic Association of Aragonese Women, with an awareness campaign explaining that this accusation was outrageous." She also started a letter writing campaign, including contacting the Minister of Justice and the President of the Government Carlos Arias Navarro. She made the case a political cause, getting women's groups from across the country to assist Benito's cause. Labarta said, "The Catalans and the Madrilenians, who were much more organized, came with buses. While we were at the trial, they were demonstrating outside with placards and shouting 'I am also an adulteress.' (Spanish: Yo también soy adúltera). There was a popular outcry against that legislation."[14] The judge ruled the case unproven as the husband was not able to certify that the man's penis had penetrated his wife's vagina."[14][11] This was an important legal distinction as it meant there was no possibility that a child could be made outside of marriage.[14] Labarta said of the not-proven accusation, "I am convinced that if it had not been for popular support, they would have taken adultery as proven. In other sentences of his, a guilty verdict was given to woman who had spent two hours in a house with a man."[14]
Muñoz was married to a gay man with whom she had a daughter. Living in Badalona, she was separated from her husband who had left her to live with another man Mallorca shortly after the birth of their daughter. Muñoz later fell in love again, moved in with her new partner, and the couple had a child together. According to her lawyer Enric Leira, "When her husband later found out, he filed a lawsuit to recover custody of the daughter and, in addition, filed another complaint for adultery." The judge assigned to Muñoz's case, Andrés de Castro, was an avowed fascist who had imprisoned the 113 members of the Assemblea de Catalunya arrested on 28 October 1973. De Castro's first act was to award custody of Muñoz's daughter to her husband. Following this decision, Leira said, "Then the big mess was put together. The demonstrations began in the streets and I received a surprising visit. The police commissioner of Santa Coloma came to see me at my office. I was stunned. He explained that they were looking for María Ángeles, but he made it clear that they did not have much interest in finding her. It was a totally delirious, grotesque situation. [...] Everyone wanted to help her. The consensus was total, apart from four nostalgic of national-Catholicism. The most mobilized were the feminists. They contacted me to organize a campaign to publicize the case. The demonstrations, basically of women, were tremendous."[14] There was a march in Barcelona in November 1976 where 5,000 protested the law that made adultery illegal. The protest was in response to the case of Ángeles Muñoz.[23][22][24] Her lawyer went on to say, "You could not talk to Judge De Castro, he was not capable of any reason, with an inflexibility towards the law." With few available options, Leira got in touch with the husband's lawyers. She said of this, "Legal arguments were few because the Francoist legislation did not leave much room. But thanks to some details and also to social pressure, we managed to reach a pact with the father." The husband withdrew his adultery complaint and signed an agreement that where both sides said they believed it in the best interest of the child for her to live with her mother.[14]
During the early and mid-1970s, the Supreme Court received a large number of appeals from women over their adultery convictions. A man with the initials MDL was convicted on 15 October 1976, the woman concerned being successfully granted her appeal a year and a half later. The Supreme Court commented, "Nothing is said in the judgment appealed regarding the fact that the defendant had knowledge of the woman's marital status." Another woman who had a relationship was less fortunate, with the Supreme Court dismissing her appeal despite her claim that she had received permission from her husband. The court said in rejecting the appeal, "There was no consent, because although the husband knew about the behavior of his wife, he could not exercise the action while the guilty party lived abroad." A man and a woman appealed their 14 September 1973 adultery conviction on the grounds of marital separation on the part of the woman. The Supreme Court rejected this, stating, "As long as the marriage is not annulled or the current legality is modified, the marriage bond subsists and its ethical and fidelity duties remain."[11]
On 26 May 1978, adultery was eliminated as a criminal offense in Spain's penal code.[14][22][24] This took place as a result of the repeal of Articles 449 and 452. The Justice Committee of the Congress of Deputies did this by unanimous consent.[25][24][11] Definitions of abandonment were also changed, as they were not consistent for both sexes with women previously only being able to claim abandonment if her husband forced his wife to support his mistress while they were living in the same house. On 7 October 1978, the law was changed to decriminalize the sale of contraceptives, along with information on how to use them.[22] The Senate bill that passed to decriminalize adultery was different than the one passed by Congress. Consequently, for the first time the Joint Congress-Senate Committee had to meet to reconcile these differences. The primary issue was whether adultery could be used as a reason to disinherit someone, with Congress saying it could not be invoked while the Senate maintained it could be. In the end, the version put forth by Congress was accepted.[11]
National Federation of Progressive Women President Yolanda Besteiro de la Fuente said of the rescinding of this law, "It meant overcoming a historical discrimination of women, who could be punished with six years in prison if they committed adultery, faced with the impunity of this same behavior if committed by a man. It consecrated the freedom of women in their sexual relations and produced an authentic social transformation changing the traditional concept of marriage and, therefore, of the family."[11]
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A crime of passion, in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger or jealousy rather than as a premeditated crime. A high level of social and legal acceptance of crimes of passion has been historically associated with France from the 19th century to the 1970s, and until recently with Latin America.
Uxoricide is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own girlfriend. The killing of a husband is called mariticide.
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Women in Uruguay are women who were born in, who live in, and are from Uruguay. According to Countries and Their Cultures, there is a "very high proportion" of Uruguayan women participating in the labor force of the South American country. The Uruguayan legislation maintains that the women of Uruguay have equal rights to power, authority, and privileges". In reality, however, women are still not occupying "higher economic, professional, political, social, and religious positions". In relation to the political arena, UN Women reported that a 2012 study made by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) ranked Uruguay as being "103rd out of 189 countries in terms of representation of women in Parliament". Uruguay low ranking is partly due to its low political participation of women: only 16% of members of Parliament are women as of 2014.
Adultery was a criminal offence under Chapter XX of the Indian Penal Code until it was quashed by the Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2018 as unconstitutional. The law dated from 1860. Under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which was the section dealing with adultery, a man who had consensual sexual intercourse with the wife of another man without that husband's consent or connivance could have been punished for this offence with up to five years imprisonment, a fine or both. As such, the concept of adultery targeted the act of sexual intercourse occurring between a married woman and a man other than her husband, in which case the man would be guilty whereas the wife was exempt from punishment. When a married man had sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman, no party was punishable; while if a married man had sexual intercourse with a married woman other than his wife, the married man's crime was against the husband of that married woman, not against the man's own wife towards whom he had been unfaithful. Adultery was only prosecutable upon the complaint of the aggrieved husband.
Lesbians in the Second Spanish Republic and Civil War period were doubly discriminated against, as a result of their gender and sexual practices. Prior to the Second Republic, lesbians in Spain were largely ignored, eclipsed by gay men. They faced discrimination as they challenged definitions around what it meant to be a woman. While homosexuality was not condemned by law, it was possible for lesbians to face more severe punishment when charged with violation of morals because of their sexual orientation.
Women in Francoist Spain found traditional Catholic Spanish gender roles being imposed on them, in terms of their employment opportunities and role in the family. For Republican women, Francoist Spain was a double loss, as the new regime first took away the limited political power and identities as women which they had won during the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939), and it secondly forced them back into the confines of their homes. Motherhood would become the primary social function of women in Francoist Spain.
Women rights in Francoist Spain (1939–1975) and the democratic transition (1975–1985) were limited. The Franco regime immediately implemented draconian measures that legally incapacitated women, making them dependents of their husbands, fathers or the state. Moderate reforms would not begin until the 1960s, with more dramatic reforms taking place after Franco's death in 1975 and the ensuing democratic transition.
Motherhood in Francoist Spain was the definition of being a woman. Motherhood was important to the state because Hispanic eugenics saw women's bodies as state property. They were needed to rebuild Spain by creating a race of people aligned with the prevailing Catholic morality of the period. The regime then created numerous laws to enforce its vision of motherhood. These would not begin to relax until the late 1950s, and only face radical changes in the post-Franco period.
Feminism in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition period took place in a specific socio-historical context. Spanish feminism went through several waves in the Francoist period. Broadly speaking, they are first-wave feminism taking place from the mid-nineteenth century to 1965, second-wave feminism taking place from 1965 to 1975, and third-wave feminism taking place from 1975 to 2012.
Abortion in Francoist Spain and the transition period was illegal. Francoists opposed abortion because it interfered with Spanish population growth. Feminists in the early Francoist period and until the mid-1960s largely did not connect abortion with women's rights. Abortion was only briefly legal in Spain in this period in Catalonia in the final days of the Spanish Civil War.
Guardianship in Francoist Spain (1939-1975) and the democratic transition (1975-1985) was a system which provided husbands and fathers with tremendous legal control over women. Male members of the family were able to transfer legal control of their daughters over to the state. One of the developments after the Civil War was the restoration of the Civil Code of 1889 by the Franco regime. This made women into virtual slaves to their husbands and fathers with men controlling not only the custody of their children, but their bank accounts, contracts, nationality and residency. Women did not reach the age of majority until 21, 25 if they were unmarried or not in a convent. Husbands and fathers could kill their wives and daughters for committing adultery or having sex outside marriage. Minor reforms were made in the 1950s and 1960s, largely as a result of economic pressures.
Gender violence and rape in Francoist Spain was a problem that was a result of Nationalist attitudes developed during the Spanish Civil War. Sexual violence was common on the part of Nationalist forces and their allies during the Civil War. Falangist rearguard troops would rape and murder women in cemeteries, hospitals, farmhouses, and prisons. They would rape, torture and murder socialists, young girls, nurses and milicianas. Regular Nationalist soldiers engaged in similar patterns of rape, torture and murder in places like Maials, Callus and Cantalpino. Moroccan Foreign Legionaries were used to commit rape against women to instil terror among local populaces, using rape as a weapon of war. Women in prison were also raped, often facing death if they refused to have sex with their captors. The exact extent of the problem will likely never be known as there was less record keeping around women, and quantification attempts have largely resulted in the erasure of women's history.
Women's sexuality in Francoist Spain was defined by the Church and by the State. The purpose in doing so was to have women serve the state exclusively through reproduction and guarding the morality of the state. Women's sexuality could only be understood through the prism of reproduction and motherhood. Defying this could have tremendous negative consequences for women, including being labeled a prostitute, being removed from her family home, being sent to a concentration camp, a Catholic run institution or to a prison. It was only after the death of Franco in 1975 that women in Spain were finally allowed to define their own sexuality. Understanding Francoist imposed definitions of female sexuality is critical to understanding modern Spanish female sexuality, especially as it relates to macho behavior and women's expected responses to it.
Women in 1940s Spain were mainly recognised as mothers.
Women in 1960s Spain were facing a period of transition.
Women in 1970s Francoist Spain were arrested and tortured for their involvement in underground unions the Francoist period.
Women in 1970s Spain in the democratic transition were able to legally organise as feminist groups. The adultery law was repealed in 1978. No consistent changes to childcare issues emerged.
Adultery laws are the laws in various countries that deal with extramarital sex. Historically, many cultures considered adultery a very serious crime, some subject to severe punishment, especially in the case of extramarital sex involving a married woman and a man other than her husband, with penalties including capital punishment, mutilation, or torture. Such punishments have gradually fallen into disfavor, especially in Western countries from the 19th century. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from fines to caning and even capital punishment. Since the 20th century, criminal laws against adultery have become controversial, with most Western countries repealing them.
↑ Duch Plana, Montserrat; Ferre Baldrich, Meritxell (2009). De subdites a ciutadanes: dones a tarragona, 19839-1982. [Place of publication not identified]: Publicacions Universitat. ISBN978-8484244165. OCLC951158936.
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