Supreme Tribunal of Spain (Tribunal Supremo), Section II, No. 996/2011, 4 October 2011

Recourse against conviction for sexual assault, private violence and domestic violence, committed jointly by the parents of a minor. Assessment of the influence of the mother’s cultural background.

Art. 172 Spanish criminal code
Art. 173 Spanish criminal code
Art. 178 Spanish criminal code

The specific culture of a defendant cannot in any case justify as normal behaviors of domestic violence against children, especially when particularly serious.

(The case concerned conducts of domestic and sexual violence committed by the father of a minor girl, of gypsy ethnicity, with the knowledge of the mother, who had however done nothing to prevent them. The woman had defended herself by claiming that she had not been aware of the sexual violence and that she had considered as normal the acts of domestic violence.)