The trial begins against the Argentine actor Juan Darthés, accused of raping the actress Thelma Fardin when he was 16 years old

Published:

Nov 30, 2021 15:52 GMT

The case sparked social upheaval and sparked a broad debate on sexual abuse.

The trial against Argentine actor Juan Darthés, who is accused of having raped actress Thelma Fardin when she was a minor, began this Tuesday amid wide expectations and activism from the feminist movement around a case that unleashed social upheaval. and that allowed a broad debate to begin on sexual abuse.

It will be an unprecedented process, since it will be carried out thanks to the collaboration of three countries. Fardin will testify in Argentina and Darthés in Brazil, where he has resided since he was accused, but the case was initiated by the Nicaraguan Justice, where the events occurred.

On December 11, 2018, Fardín revealed, accompanied by dozens of colleagues, that nine years earlier, when she was still a minor, Darthés had raped her in a hotel in Managua, where they were both as part of a tour of the play ‘Ugly Duckling’.

At that moment, Fardin was 16 and Darthés 45.

The complaint was a shock. The actress said that her fellow cast member had told her: “Look how you make me”, a phrase abusers often use to hold victims accountable for their own rape. And that was ratified by other women who also accused Darthés. It was a modus operandi.

In response, the collective of actresses responded: “Look how we get on,” which became a feminist motto for sisterhood to accompany and defend women who suffer sexual assaults.

Argentina’s feminist movement was in full swing. Just a few months ago the first legislative debate on abortion had been held and it was three years since the first ‘Not one less’ march against femicides, which would later be replicated in many other countries.

Impact

Fardin’s revelation encouraged many other victims who had been silent for years to speak up.

“We do not shut up anymore”, was another of the cries that were installed in the groups to stop fearing reprisals, prejudices, stigmatization and even doubts generated by reports of sexual abuse.

Until that day, the hotline for reporting child abuse received an average of 16 complaints a day. After Fardin spoke, they increased to 214.

At that time, Darthés denied the accusation, but ended up fleeing to Brazil to avoid the unstoppable scandal in Argentina. Fardin, for his part, started a criminal case in Nicaragua.

The Nicaraguan courts requested the extradition of the actor, but he was protected by having Brazilian citizenship. In return, the Justice of the South American country began its own process that will be carried out in two private and virtual hearings, today and tomorrow, with statements from the accuser and the accused and a dozen witnesses.

There is still no set date to hear the sentence, but if Darthés is found guilty of “rape” (carnal access through violence or serious threat), he can be sentenced to between six and 10 years in prison; if the assault resulted in serious injury, the penalty would increase from eight to 12 years.

Cecilia Gonzalez

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