Fiestas, public space, and rape culture. A study of the Wolf Pack case

Abstract

This chapter will focus on understanding which elements related to the festive context in the public space are used to explain that sexual violence against women can be understood as a part of the festivity itself. To do so, we will analyse the case of ‘La Manada’, a gang rape case that happened in July of 2016 during the San Fermín, a traditional and centenary festivity held in Pamplona (Spain). The verdict dictated by the judges caused huge demonstrations of women all over Spain. The mobilisations were to show the disagreement of women with the argumentation of the judicial sentence, which didn’t consider the aggression a rape because, according to them, the victim didn’t resist the rape. Thus through a specific and paradigmatic case, nowadays internationally known, we will show how a festive context in a public space can be used to justify sexual violence against women. To do so, we conducted qualitative fieldwork that included journalistic case tracking, in-depth analysis of the instruction and accusation writings, as well as the court rulings of the case. In-depth interviews with members of the local feminist movement in Pamplona and experts on sexual violence involved in the case were also conducted.