Dani Alves’ alleged victim unable to sleep, being treated to prevent STDs
Ester García López, the lawyer of Dani Alves’ alleged rape victim, has spoken to Brazilian media outlet UOL about the case.
The lawyer of Dani Alves’ accuser says the footballer didn’t wear a condom when he allegedly raped her client at a Barcelona nightclub, forcing the 23-year-old woman to undergo treatment against potential sexually-transmitted diseases.
Speaking to the Brazilian media outlet UOL, Ester García López added that the woman has been unable to sleep since filing a police report against Alves, who has been remanded in custody without the possibility of bail.
“She told me that she hasn’t been able to [sleep]”
“She’s receiving psychological support through a state body that specialises in treating victims of violence,” García López said. “The hospital prescribed a whole course of treatment aimed at avoiding any type of infectious disease, because no condom was used.
“She has also received pharmaceutical treatment in the form of anti-anxiety drugs to help her sleep, but she told me that she hasn’t been able to since [making] her statement [to law enforcement].”
Clarity of alleged victim’s version of events “rare”
The lawyer added that her client’s case has benefited from the fact that she was immediately taken to the Catalan police force’s Central Sexual Assault Unit (UCAS). “Fortunately, she left the disco by ambulance and went straight to the UCAS,” Garcia López told UOL.
“Unlike most victims of sexual violence, who wash their underwear out of feelings of disgust, she didn’t have time to think about it. She was attended to quickly, while the evidence remained there.”
Garcia López added that her client “gave a concise statement, without any contradictions, and this is rare”. She explained: “Many women suffer from post-traumatic stress and forget details. They remember later, and that does not invalidate the truth. But in her case, this did not happen. She remembered everything, from start to finish.”
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Alves case “already exemplary”, lawyer says
Regardless of the outcome of the case, the lawyer says, the way it has been handled in its early stages will give women greater confidence to come forward with sexual-assault allegations against high-profile men. “For me, it is already an exemplary case for how it started,” she said.
“There are some public figures who think they are above right and wrong, who think that no-one would ever believe a woman like my client. There are many women who do not report it when it involves a public figure, because of the difficulty at an emotional and judicial level.
“But I think that in this case, no matter how it ends - I hope it ends with a conviction - imprisonment without bail is already exemplary.”
“She was extremely distressed”
Meanwhile, the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia has talked to the manager of the Sutton nightclub, Robert Massanet, who spoke to Alves’ accuser right after the alleged sexual assault took place. “She was inconsolable,” Massanet said. “I asked her, ‘What has happened to you? Tell me what has happened to you! You need to calm down.’ She was extremely distressed.”
At that moment, La Vanguardia reveals, Alves walked past them as he left the club. “He had to have seen her crying,” the publication was told by one person who witnessed the scene.