Where is the Justice?

Read the Spanish version here.

When a space stops being safe

Alexa Torres was a young woman working as a Coordinator of the Youth Pastoral in the  San José de Limpio Church, in Paraguay. It was September 2021. Alexa was working at the church like any other day, when the head priest of the church, Silvestre Olmedo, asked her for help to write a note. He invited her to his office. 

Taking advantage of the closed environment, the priest approached Alexa from her back. He caressed her hair, touched her shoulders, and finally, his hands made their way to her breasts without Alexa’s consent. 

Alexa knew this was not right. How was this possible?  After looking for answers within the church for months, in December 2016,  she filed a formal complaint against Olmedo for groping.  As a response, local authorities started an investigation process, with Priest Olmedo being accused of sexual harassment.

The church authorities were reluctant and uncooperative, and they decided to side with the accused priest. They wrote a letter to the young people at the Church. In it, Monsignor Valenzuela, head of the Catholic Church in Paraguay,  asked  “not to make a mountain out of a stone”. With this letter, the Catholic Church minimized the sexual violence that Alexa lived.

They also shared other messages, disregarding the violence and condemning that Alexa had filed a formal complaint; their attitudes were also proof of their unwillingness to cooperate and stand against the violence. 

As a response, Alexa quit her role at the church. This forced her to leave a space in which she willingly had chosen to practice her beliefs and serve her community. In the meantime, the case remained unresolved while the priest’s defense committed intentional acts to try to stop the investigations from moving forward. 

The (infinite) road to justice

Almost three years later, Alexa approached Consultorio Jurídico Feminista, a Paraguayan organization providing free and voluntary legal guidance and accompaniment to women, using a feminist and interdisciplinary perspective. 

In August 2020, the case finally made it to court through an oral and public hearing. Even though the act of touching Alexa without consent and the identity of the perpetrator were confirmed, the sentencing court faced division and ultimately decided that Silvestre Olmedo was not guilty of sexual harassment.

Their rationale was that “an isolated and one time occurrence act does not classify as harassment”, and that there was no hierarchical dependence relationship between the priest and the victim. They were able to argue this because, technically, there was not a professional relationship between them. 

“Gender stereotypes are related to those preconceived notions that judges have when ruling, where they attribute certain characteristics to women, and base their decisions on that. For instance, in Alexa’s case, one of the judges instead of focusing on the actions of the person actually on trial (Olmedo), chose to analyze Alexa’s behavior… And this is illegal, because in a criminal case you are supposed to examine the conduct of the person on trial. In this case, they concluded that the incident didn’t happen, or that it didn’t amount to sexual harassment, by judging Alexa’s actions through those stereotypes” , says Michi Moragas, one of Alexa’s lawyers and part of Consultorio Jurídico Feminista.

Silvestre Olmedo got away without charges only because of technical concepts, disregarding the effects that the act had caused the victim.

This sentence not only showcased the lack of profound arguments for its verdict, but also shed light on a prevailing pattern of gender-based discrimination and violation of fundamental legal principles such as impartiality in legal procedures. It also made it very clear that the Catholic Church has the capacity of influencing the State and the judicial system in Paraguay, to the point that their actions could go about  without consequences. 

Feminist solidarity: A ray of hope

The high prevalence of gender based violence and the fact that many women could see themselves reflected in Alexa, meant that the ruling in this case sparked outrage. Feminists came together in a demonstration of solidarity and, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, they organized a caravan and protested in front of the Cathedral to support Alexa. 

Alexa was surprised and moved by all the support she got from women and student movements, and society in general. 

“Honestly, the whole feminist team – I think was the most…I never imagined that so many women would support me. All of a sudden, all the women and girls that came to support me. That part, I think, was the most beautiful thing that happened to me during that process. One thinks that, since I was part of the Church, it was expected that people from the Church would be the ones to support me the most or to understand the situation better. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, the people who supported me were those outside the pastoral group.” – said Alexa during an interview.

The noise and attention driven to Alexa’s case was so powerful, that it reopened the public debate about what harassment and living a life free from gender-based violence means. 

“I think the case will continue to be essential for encouraging more people to speak up about this issue, because it’s something that people don’t talk about. It is like people knew it happened, but that was it. I think now people talk about it more openly. […] To all the girls who want to report abuse, I want to say: you will always find someone to support you. You will always find a helping hand throughout this process”, she added. 

After what seemed like an eternity, the Court ultimately declared the cassation appeal inadmissible, reinforcing the impunity of Silvestre Olmedo. After six years, two trials, two annulments and countless procedural tricks and barriers, the response Alexa got was that the State did not defend her right to live a life free of violence, but instead, had a sexual perpetrator’s back and was complicit in his impunity.

“A major rights violation in Alexa’s case is what is known as the lack of due diligence in cases of gender-based violence. This happened to Alexa and to many women in Paraguay. It happens when the justice system fails to take all necessary steps to properly address the case. And in this particular case, we found that, at many stages of the process, the Paraguayan state allowed too many delays in the process. A process that could have lasted between one year and three months and one year and a half, ended up taking more than six years.” added Michi Moragas.

Alexa filed a formal complaint hoping that the Judiciary would send out a clear and strong message regarding sexual harassment. Nevertheless, the response she got could not have been further from that. Not only was she revictimized with each annulment, appeal and trial, but she was also judged based on gender stereotypes. This happened in every single possible mechanism to access justice in Paraguay. All resources had been used, and still, there was no justice, and only more damage. 

Until justice comes along...

Alexa’s case is paradigmatic because it shows how, in every mechanism intended to get her to access justice, patriarchal barriers were too thick to cross. The case showcased that a judicial structure that allows judgment to happen on the basis of gender stereotypes is violent. A judicial structure that allows for inactivity and negligence in the procedures is a violation to the rights of victims. 

States should push for equality in conditions to carry out processes. Alexa’s case is an example of what feminists mean when we say that violence is not only perpetrated at the individual level, but that States can also be violent when incompetent. In an attempt to get some justice for Alexa, and to highlight the institutional violence lived by her, Consultorio Jurídico Feminista, together with Alexa herself, turned to the United Nations system. 

The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a group of independent experts who review reports from countries on the implementation of the legally binding Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, making recommendations and providing feedback. Apart from this, the Committee receives complaints from individuals or groups who believe that their rights under this convention have been violated. Within this possibility, Alexa and her defense saw a chance to get something closer to justice. 

“For Paraguay, this is a new instance. One that has never been addressed before in gender-based violence cases. And in this context, where gender issues are so contested and denied, having this discussion through a legal lens and before an international committee is something that, for us, can open an important conversation”, says Michi Moragas.

In addition, Majo Durán,  lawyer at Consultorio Jurídico Feminista, shared that the objective of addressing the CEDAW committee is to get “international recognition of Alexa as a victim, not only of a punishable act of sexual violence, but also as a victim of the Paraguayan state’s failure to provide proper support, proper judgement, and above all, proper reparation for the harm caused.”

With the appeal to the CEDAW Committee, Alexa’s team hopes that there comes a ruling that compels the State to recognize the incident did occur and that the methods for judging impeded access to justice not only for Alexa, but for many women who have reported sexual abuse. With this recognition, there is hope that the Paraguayan State will take action to make amends for Alexa and commit itself to never repeat the same story. 

In hopeful spirits, Alexa believes that “it’s super important for the Paraguayan State to take a stand, to have a more empathetic and supportive approach towards victims of violence.” 

To this day, feminists in Paraguay are still standing up for Alexa, hoping to get justice for her and for all victims of sexual and gender-based violence.