Two years ago at the Running of the Bulls festival in Spain, an 18-year-old was allegedly gang-raped.

Five men in their mid-20s, according to the woman while telling police, offered to walk her to her car, but ended up throwing her against a wall and was told to “shut up” while they took turns sexually assaulting her. The woman also alleges that one of the men stole her phone before leaving her.

Afterwards, she was found curled up in a fetal position crying in what was described as “a distraught state.” The following day, arrests were made by police.

This trial has been called the “Wolf Pack” which comes from a WhatsApp group chat that the defendants were a part of.

During the majority of the trial, short videos of the woman during the attack were shown. Within the clips, the woman seemed to come off as having a “passive, submissive stance,” since she had her eyes closed. The defendant’s attorney argued that this is evidence she had given consent to the men.

Days following the incident, a private investigator followed the girl in secret and took photos of her laughing and smiling with friends. The defense team said that this meant the woman had not been traumatized.

Peter Nelson, a counselor at Eleanor Roosevelt High School says, “I believe it was rape, obviously.  If the girl says no, she says no.

The judge did not permit the jury to consider the WhatsApp chats the men had. At one point, they texted, “us five are f—ing one girl” and “there is video.” Another chat that the men were part of had texts of them joking about drugging women and then raping them. There was even a video that had one of the men assaulting another woman who seemed to be unconscious.

Mr. Nelson also says, “The men’s own  words should be used against themselves.”

Last Thursday, the men were charged with “sexual abuse” rather than sexual assault. Each of the men were sentenced to nine years, and the woman’s attorney had fought for twenty two years. On top of that, all the men have to pay the woman approximately $12,000.

The sentence the men were given does not cut it for many in Spain. Tens of thousands of people took the street in protest. They are holding signs that declare, “It’s not sexual abuse, it’s rape.”

An online petition has been calling for the disqualification of the trial’s judges. At this point, it has obtained more than 1.2 million signatures.

The national police force of Spain tweeted “no is no” a dozen times after the verdict was made and state prosecutors say the ruling will be appealed.

In the meantime, politicians have promised to rethink Spain’s laws on sexual violence, since there have been way too many incidents in the past.