Morena Diaz chose the path of the greatest possible public to tell about something terrible that she had to experience in a private setting: on January 2, the influencer shared a beach picture on her Instagram profile with 71,000 followers at the time and the shocking report of her Rape.
Shortly before Christmas Eve 2018, a friend raped her after a dinner together. “I trusted him, but he wanted more and got what he wanted that night: my body,” wrote the influencer. With her post, Morena Diaz (26) wants to clear up, remove taboos and encourage other victims. And she has a specific demand: “We have to adapt the laws,” writes the Aargau teacher.
She is not alone in this. Two lawyers are calling for an amendment to the penal code, and the legal committee of the Council of States is expected to make a decision in January. The NZZ devoted a whole page to the topic entitled “When is it a rape?”.
Rape in a familiar setting
Morena Diaz’’s story illustrates in a terribly vivid way what it is about: she wasn’t attacked and raped on the way home in a dark alley, but was in a supposedly safe place with a supposed confidante.
She did not fight back because she fell into a state of shock, she writes. Arms, legs and voice have failed. “You just hope that you can get through it as quickly and as unscathed as possible.”
According to the criminal law in force today, this sexual intercourse is probably not to be classified as rape, because the circumstances for a rape are: “Anyone who requires a person of the female sex to tolerate sexual intercourse, especially by threatening them, using violence, putting them under psychological pressure or to Resistance makes us incapable. »
The background to this passage of text is historical, the lawyers in the NZZ argue. Women should resist sexual intercourse outside of their marriage with great resistance. At the time of writing the law, rape could also occur within a partnership.
The revision of the law is intended to introduce a “no means no” rule. If a woman – or a man – says no to sex or other sexual acts, it would be rape.
Since the publication of the rape post, Morena Diaz’s followers have increased by 2000. The post has received over 12,000 likes and more than 1,000 comments. Many of them expressions of sympathy. Other reactions show that a change in the law is indeed time.
From “What did you wear?” To “Who wonders”
Even a no rule cannot ensure that the evidence problems of sexual offenses are solved. But as Morena Diaz writes, it’s about educating. People still seem to feel that as a victim you have at least partly contributed to the rape.
In another post, Diaz published comments asking what she was wearing that evening, where the rape was and what she was related to. “In a sexual assault, it doesn’t matter how you were dressed,” writes Morena Diaz. «The victim can stand naked in front of the perpetrator, he has no right to touch the victim against his will.»
A no is a no and must be respected. For Morena Diaz, the kind of reaction she expected was “a slap in the face and an additional barrier that prevents victims from opening up.”
The law change also has opponents. Zurich criminal law professor Daniel Jositsch told the NZZ: “Criminal law principles are being overthrown here.” Critics see the presumption of innocence at risk and fear that victims can say no, to which someone could be wrongly accused of rape.
But Jositsch does not deny that existing sexual law is “incomplete and partially outdated”, as the NZZ writes. In contrast to other countries, the debate in Switzerland is only just beginning.
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