The Blog
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Those Wacky Mexicans...Mexican men who display extreme jealousy or avoid sex with their wives could be tried in court and punished under a new law, the special prosecutor for crimes against women says.
Special prosecutor Alicia Elena Perez Duarte has told Excelsior newspaper that men who phone their wives every half hour to check up on them, constantly suspect them of infidelity or try to control the way they dress are committing the crime of jealousy.
Those who stop talking to their wives, avoid sex or try to convince suspicious spouses they are "crazy" even if the men are caught red-handed having an affair are guilty of indifference, she said.
Men found guilty of jealousy or indifference could face up to five years in prison, the newspaper said.
- ABC News
I love it, I really do. In some ways, yes this law is crazy, but on the other hand, if you have to legislate "it's nice to be nice" policies, this is probably a good one to start with.
Labels: Beto, crazy mexicans, hiding it all behind a smile
posted by Catherine, 11:27 AM | permanent link
Comments:
Re the crime of indifference: Can you imagine the kind of outcry it would create if this law were for women instead of men - that women could be imprisoned for saying 'no' to sex?
# posted by
James B, Wednesday, February 28, 2007 8:19:00 PM
I'm going to be charitable and say that there's probably more to it than just refusing to have sex - reuters isn't exactly known for the thoroughness of their articles.
But of course there'd be an outcry if it was the other way around, and I'd be disappointed if there wasn't an outcry if things are as vapid as they seem.
Catherine, Wednesday, February 28, 2007 8:52:00 PM
That's totally unfair, women can be indifferent to men too. And how many call rings per day are exactly jealousy, 1, 3, 4? What about e-mails and SMS?
I leave the country and everything is a mess, I need to go back soon.
Beto, Wednesday, February 28, 2007 10:14:00 PM
I got the impression that it's more about husbands who are stalking their wives and actually scaring them.
The new law punishes psychological, physical and patrimonial violence (plundering goods and money) against women, whatever their age and marital status. It provides for the immediate arrest of the presumptive aggressor, and the protection of the victim, among other measures.
It also proposes models of preventive practices and sets out a series of State actions to eliminate gender violence.
Some members of Congress belonging to the governing conservative National Action Party (PAN) and to the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), are considering amending the new law, which legal experts have criticised.
For example, the law refers to jealousy and lack of love as expressions of psychological violence, although these feelings are hard to measure or evaluate in a court room. It also introduces new legal terms like "femicide" which are not used in local laws.
The law is "a catalogue of good intentions that still need to be given proper legal expression before they can be put into practice," said Luis de la Barreda, head of the non-governmental Citizen's Institute for the Study of Insecurity (INCESI).
- Inter Press Service News Agency
Of course, the international press just leapt on the jealousy thing as a "aren't they wacky" point, which is how it got so widely publicised all over the place.
So... yeah. I think it's a bit wooly, but their hearts are in the right place.
Catherine, Thursday, March 01, 2007 11:58:00 AM
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