A man has been accused of switching gender to avoid a trial for threatening his former partner in Spain.
The victim’s lawyer has described the move, which takes advantage of the country’s ultra-liberal transgender laws, as “fraudulent”.
One of the country’s specialist courts to protect women from male violence has said it now cannot try the individual – who has a previous conviction as a man for threatening his former partner – as he has since changed his legal status to female.
The victim has reported that her former partner has continued to threaten her and violate restraining orders since being ordered to serve 15 months in prison – and subsequently registering as a woman – last year.
In a separate case, prosecutors in San Sebastian have revealed that they are bound by law to treat a police officer arrested last week for allegedly threatening the woman he married and their two daughters with a knife, as a woman because the suspect changed official gender last year.
[Ed: This is a travesty but I am impressed that Spain has specialist courts to protect women from male violence.]
Source: Man accused of changing gender ‘to avoid trial’ for threatening partner