The two women who filed a lawsuit against Julio Iglesias are turning to six United Nations mechanisms out of fear of retaliation. Their office reports that the leak of a video of a statement to the Prosecutor's Office compromised their identity.
Rebeca and Laura, the two women who last week filed a lawsuit against Julio Iglesias in the National Court for alleged sexual and labour crimes, have decided to approach international bodies. Their office, Women’s Link, has referred the case to six special mechanisms of the United Nations, as reported by Noticias para Municipios.
The organization warns that the privacy, safety, and personal data of the accusers have already been compromised before the judicial process advances. The trigger for this step occurred in January when the digital outlet Okdiario published a video of one of the accusers' statements to the National Court Prosecutor's Office. The face was pixelated, but not the voice, which effectively nullifies any attempt to safeguard their identity.
For Rebeca and Laura's lawyers, this incident is not an isolated case, but proof that Spain is either unable or unwilling to protect those who accuse a man with such economic and social power.
The communication sent to the UN requests two specific things. First, that the Spanish State be asked to explain how it will guarantee an "effective, independent, impartial, diligent, and thorough" investigation of the reported facts.
Second, that urgent measures be recommended to protect the two women, their families, and the witnesses listed in the lawsuit, in order to prevent intimidation, retaliation, or a re-victimization that, they warn, would also discourage other victims from coming forward.
The accusers feel unprotected and fear retaliation due to the singer's position of power.
Women’s Link has explicitly requested that the case be addressed with a gender perspective, also considering how gender, poverty, migration status, and racialization intersect in the vulnerability of the accusers.
The lawyers emphasize that their clients have expressed "fear of retaliation" and that the severity of the facts, combined with Julio Iglesias' position of power and the current lack of state protection, exacerbates that vulnerability for both the accusers and the witnesses.
The six mechanisms to which the organization has directed its efforts are the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking, and the Rapporteur on trafficking in persons.
This is an action to activate a mechanism of political pressure, not to go to a court. It does not issue binding resolutions, but it can demand explanations from the State and make public calls, without needing to exhaust the judicial route first, which continues in parallel.
On that judicial front, the investigating judge of the lawsuit has asked the Prosecutor's Office to clarify whether the National Court is the competent body to investigate the case.
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