Latest news with #sexualfreedom
The Sun
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Real Madrid star Raul Asencio breaks silence as he faces trial over ‘video of underage girl having sex with team-mates'
RAUL ASENCIO has fiercely protested his innocence after being accused of distributing a sexual video involving an underage girl. The Real Madrid star is due to stand trial in the Canary Islands and could face five years in prison. Asencio is accused of sharing footage involving three former Madrid reserve players. It is claimed the players involved lied when they told the two girls - allegedly aged 16 and 18 - that the recorded sexual material had been deleted. Ferran Ruiz, 22, Juan Rodriguez, 23, and Andres Garcia, 22, were arrested in September 2023. Asencio's appeal against his inclusion in the upcoming trial was rejected in February. Posting on X, Asencio wrote on Thursday: "I have not participated in any behaviour that violates the sexual freedom of any woman, much less minors." In a lengthy statement, the Los Blancos star said the "presumption of innocence must continue to prevail." He added: "Should charges ultimately be filed and a trial commence, I will continue to defend myself before the Courts and Tribunals, in which I have full confidence, reaffirming my innocence of any criminal conduct. "All of this is without prejudice to the utmost respect for the conduct of the judicial proceedings as a whole, including those of the other persons under investigation. "I want to reiterate, once again, my absolute respect for the rights to sexual freedom and privacy of all women." Asensio claims the video was recorded "in a location other than where I was". Carlo Ancelotti named Brazil coach as former Chelsea boss makes history after leaving Real Madrid But despite the judge making clear he is not being charged for making the footage, he remains indicted on charges of sharing it. He added: "[The ruling] does not accuse me of having had sexual relations with the two women involved, nor of having recorded them, with or without their consent. "Likewise, the court order clarifies that I was not the one who sent any intimate images or videos to third parties, which, I reiterate, were recorded in a location other than where I was. "The court order, as far as I am concerned, limits its content to the eventual momentary viewing of some images by a third party, without attributing to me any participation in their recording or dissemination." The four Madrid players were arrested after a complaint was filed by the mother of a 16-year-old girl in the Canary Islands. The complainant stated that the sexual activity was consensual, but the alleged recording was not. Asencio, 22, has risen through the ranks at Madrid to become a regular starter this season. The centre-back has made 34 appearances this season across all competitions.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Motherhood should be a choice. The Trump Administration doesn't think so
Motherhood can be wonderful and joyous when it is freely chosen and fully supported. As we celebrate mothers, we should acknowledge that motherhood occurs in various ways in the modern world. We should also consider whether we want the government meddling with sex, reproduction and the family. Such meddling is an old problem: Plato imagined the state controlling procreation — his goal was to produce better offspring through eugenic breeding of human beings. His student, Aristotle, suggested that deformed children should not be allowed to live and that abortion could be required in the interest of population control. Opinion If those ancient proposals sound appalling to modern ears, that's because we typically embrace sexual and reproductive freedom. We want to be able to choose who we have sex with, as well as whether and when we reproduce. Freedom of choice for mothers is a relatively new development: For most of human history, motherhood was under patriarchal control. The innovations of the modern world have changed all of that. During the past 200 years, the human population has boomed from 1 billion to 8 billion people. At the same time, sexual and reproductive freedom were unleashed. Better birth control technology allows for sex without reproduction. Liberal divorce laws, the demise of the stigma against unwed mothering and LGBTQ rights have changed the cultural paradigm. We are still sorting out the implications of these changes. And the culture war about motherhood is not yet over. The rapid increase in population has led some to worry about the carrying capacity of the earth. Those concerns are exacerbated by climate change, immigration crises and ongoing social and political turmoil. A growing population may make these things worse. But some folks are now worrying about declining populations in developed countries such as the U.S. global population will likely continue to grow to above 10 billion people in the next 50 years. But in those parts of the world where sexual and procreative freedom are firmly established, birth rates are falling below replacement levels. These declining birth rates have prompted the Trump administration to advance a pro-natal agenda. At the annual March for Life in January of this year, Vice President J.D. Vance said, 'I want more babies in the United States of America.' At the same time, Vance criticized 'a culture of radical individualism.' Vance invokes a broad critique of those modern developments that include women's liberation, the sexual revolution and abortion rights. He is concerned that people are enjoying their freedom while ignoring what he called 'the joys of family life.' The pro-natal agenda has led the Trump administration to consider policies to promote childbirth, including a $5,000 incentive for making babies. In support of the idea, one conservative commentator, Michael Knowles, has encouraged Americans to get busy making babies. In a YouTube video, Knowles said, 'Close your eyes and think of America. Do your patriotic duty. Make America great again. You gotta have babies. OK? It's your marital duty. It's your patriotic duty…. Close your eyes and think of America, and maybe you get five thousand bucks.' Critics have pointed out that $5,000 is hardly enough to support motherhood in an economy that includes high costs for health care, childcare and housing. Libertarians and feminists alike may also wonder whether it is a good idea to view procreation as a patriotic and marital duty. We should be nervous when government officials start meddling with sex and the family. The government can offer incentives and support for families and children without becoming coercive, but the slippery slope of governmental coercion is an ancient problem we ought to avoid. And to suggest we close our eyes and make babies as a patriotic duty is truly bizarre. If motherhood is an important good, it should be chosen with eyes wide open, for its own sake and not because of some political program. Vance is right about the joys of family life: Loving families are wonderful. But reproduction is not the only joy that matters. In a world with more than 8 billion people, it might be appropriate to have fewer kids. More importantly, in a free country, we must be allowed to pursue familial joy on our own terms. Andrew Fiala is the interim department chair of Fresno State University's Department of Philosophy.
