{"id":251247,"date":"2022-04-06T15:55:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T19:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=251247"},"modified":"2022-04-06T15:55:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T19:55:03","slug":"becquer-case-and-accompaniment-of-criminal-proceedings-for-gender-based-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/gender\/becquer-case-and-accompaniment-of-criminal-proceedings-for-gender-based-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"B\u00e9cquer case and accompaniment of criminal proceedings for gender-based violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago the magazine <\/span>El Estornudo<\/span><\/i> published<\/span><\/a> sixteen new testimonies about sexual abuse and assault allegedly committed by Cuban singer-songwriter Fernando B\u00e9cquer. The first five stories about this particular case of gender-based violence were published by this same publication in early December 2021. Since then, many people have wondered what is happening or what has happened to this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this concern, quite generalized at least among we people who cohabit social networks, is related to the fact that the case in question has resulted in a public scandal full of tensions (including political ones) without precedent in Cuba considering the number of testimonies, the reactions it has unleashed, the participation of the media and the legal-criminal scenario as a center of disputes where the alleged aggressor is being prosecuted.<\/span><\/p>\n

There has been a criminal complaint, so what should happen now and what should be the role of the press and of some institutions related to the case during the process? What should be reported, to whom and when?<\/span><\/p>\n

The press during criminal proceedings for gender-based violence<\/b><\/p>\n

Without a press with sound ethical practices and an intentional gender perspective, it is almost impossible to provide a dignified and careful accompaniment of the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of February this year, a 20-year-old Argentine girl was <\/span>gang-raped<\/span><\/a> on the streets of Buenos Aires in broad daylight. The media did not take long to openly viralize the events. They exposed her face, they broadcast the images of the surveillance cameras, they referred to her social and private life. They repeated the events ad nauseam, on TV, in the written and digital press, and on the networks; they also did it with the terms of the complaint, the actions of the police, the details about the place of the events and the criminal process that was initiated. Barely ten days later, the attacked woman delivered <\/span>a letter<\/span><\/a> to the media in that country requesting that they stop the harassment of the press against her. Cases like this happen in all countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the media commonly generate a revictimizing violence against the affected people based on the spectacularization of sexual crimes, generating morbidity and reproducing the logic of pillage once their bodies are offended through gender-based violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the other side of the coin, which is still a matter of the same problem, is the contamination caused by the press on the process of investigation and administration of justice. They determine public opinion and judge without the process having concluded. In many cases, the victim is pointed out condemningly; in others, culprits, accomplices are fabricated and there is even speculation with the evidential elements. And those who are in charge of investigating and administering justice are imbued with this network of journalistic hypotheses.<\/span><\/p>\n

These practices can cause irreversible damage to the victims and their families. Therefore, although the role of the press plays a fundamental role in reporting about a case, its accompaniment must be exercised with a rigorous ethical commitment from a gender perspective, non-revictimization and communication in pertinent terms regarding the facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The institutions<\/b><\/p>\n

The institutions, for their part, are not homogeneous nor do they have to act in the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

The courts, courtrooms, tribunals or prosecutor\u2019s offices have, most of the time, their own communication channels (pages or websites) and through them they <\/span>publicly report<\/span><\/a> on the investigative progress of cases and facts, as long as they do not obstruct the flow of the actions. In contexts of great social impact or public scandal, they agree to give <\/span>press conferences<\/span><\/a> or interviews.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities of administration of justice are not armored to give reports. It is healthy that it be done for purposes of transparency and reliability in the institutions, either through the exercise of the press or on their own initiative. Data such as number of complainants, number of persons reported, number of persons under precautionary measure, types of precautionary measures applied (pretrial detention, approach restrictions, bail, etc.), crimes under investigation, without further details, they do not hinder the presumption of innocence, the investigation of the facts, or the integrity of the victims. The bodies responsible for the administration of justice can provide minimal, but clarifying, information on the progress of the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, although these channels exist in Cuba, they are rarely used for these purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Institutions of another type act under generally administrative standards and, therefore, can apply measures even without determining the verdicts. Several cases are known in the world in which measures have been taken such as the cancellation of presentations when it is known that an artist has been accused of crimes associated with gender-based violence. They are responses linked to prevention, to administrative precautionary measures and also to the <\/span>argued<\/span><\/a> cancellation logics. The latter are argued as necessary before a patriarchal justice that often covers up femicides, rapists, abusers and stalkers; or is <\/span>delayed<\/span><\/a> for the benefit of those who commit them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cBecquer case\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The state press has published very little about this case. <\/span>Alma Mater<\/span><\/i> magazine has been the only medium that has alluded to the criminal proceedings opened against B\u00e9cquer. The <\/span>feature article<\/span><\/a> interviewed the first woman who filed the criminal complaint, referring to the time of filing with the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), and to the guidance and support of institutions such as the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), through its Gender Commission, the Attorney General\u2019s Office and the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).<\/span><\/p>\n

#YoS\u00edTeCreo: repercussions, ramifications and contexts of the \u201cB\u00e9cquer case\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n