Opinion – PVC: The Daniel Alves case

Justice will determine how all evidence of Daniel Alves’ sexual crime will be punished and with how long in prison. The presumption of innocence, provided for in Brazilian law, needs to be respected here, without naivety or levity. The victim’s testimony must always take precedence.

There are more than clues.

But who will condemn will be Justice.

That said, it is important to return to the central question. It is serious to know that many women report that, not just them, all have been victims of some type of sexual violence. Be a maniac masturbating in front of her on the street, be someone who thinks he can approach her in the club.

Can not.

No, it is not.

Robinho has a conviction for rape.

In 1987, four footballers were accused—convicted two years later—of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Switzerland. Goalkeeper Chico consummated the relationship, according to testimonials. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Current coach Cuca and former Corinthians defender Henrique received 15 months of sentence for being at the crime scene. Winger Fernando, accused of complicity, got two months.

Rape is a heinous crime. In Switzerland, the penalty in 1987 was six to ten years in prison. Perhaps due to the judge’s error, Chico got only three years, Cuca and Henrique were sentenced to 15 months, Fernando to two.

Technically it is wrong to say that the four have convictions for rape, which does not take away the seriousness of the story.

Right information is never too much for a journalist. Analysis comes after it.

The Daniel Alves case takes us back to an even broader debate than the one about sexism, which is extremely serious in itself. Rape should be punished with the same rigor as murder, because it ends a person’s life. It is not a female problem, but a society one. Above all, it has to be faced by men.

With every woman claiming that she doesn’t know another who hasn’t been a victim of sexual assault of any kind, I feel like a potential aggressor. It’s as if each person could look at me the way American policemen look at a citizen of Muslim origin when trying to enter the United States.

Not every Arab is a Muslim, not every Muslim is an Arab, much less a terrorist. As the West has been the victim of attacks by organizations composed of Arabs and Muslims, anyone with a Middle Eastern appearance or with the name Mohammed is seen as a possible terrorist.

Not fair, but justifiable.

Just like someone observing a man as a possible aggressor of a woman.

I?

Yes. We all used the men’s room.

If convicted, Daniel Alves will join a list of superpowered athletes and pop stars that includes, for example, Mike Tyson, convicted of rape in 1992. His sentence was six years, his time in prison less than three.

When the Robinho case came to light, I explained to a gentleman, at a table in a bar, that a group of friends saw the victim drunk and decided that they could sexually assault her. Upon hearing the statement, the occasional bar table colleague said: “If that’s rape, I’ve raped a lot of people.”

He was embarrassed, not ashamed.

We men have an obligation to change that.

From another strain, it was the informal hymn of shy boys, from the 1980s. “Fórmula do Amor”, by Leoni and Léo Jaime, talked about the boy who rehearsed, to conquer. “I can’t understand it, it doesn’t have any effect,” whined the song’s protagonist.

The dream was to captivate her, never to rape her.

Excuse me, Mário de Andrade: respect, intransitive verb.