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A Court Has Rejected This Argentine Actress’ Historic #MeToo Case Against A Famous Actor

Thelma Fardin said she was raped by her co-star Juan Darthés in 2009 when she was 16 and he was 45.

A court in Brazil has rejected a historic #MeToo case by an Argentine actress against her co-star.

29-year-old Thelma Fardin said in 2018 she was raped by her co-star Juan Darthés in 2009 when she was 16 and he was 45.

thelma fardin actress argentina
@soythelmafardin / Instagram

Fardin said Brazilian-born actor Darthés had lured her back to his hotel room in Nicaragua during the international tour of their film, “Patito Feo” or “Ugly Duckling”.

Juan Darthés
Juan Darthés

She said he had raped her after he forced her to touch his erection and said “look at what you do to me”, as if it was her fault.

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Argentine actresses Thelma Fardin (L) and Griselda Siciliani, members of the organization “Argentine Actresses” ˆagainst sexual abuse- react during a press conference in Buenos Aires on December 11, 2018. (MARCELO CAPECE/AFP via Getty Images)

Fardin’s story went viral and sparked a #MeToo movement in Argentina.

Tens of thousands of people began sharing their own experiences with the hashtag #MiraComoNosPonemos – “look at what you do to us”, a variation of what Darthés had said to Fardin.

thelma fardin argentina womens rights
Argentine actress Thelma Fardin (C) speaks during a press conference in Buenos Aires on October 17, 2019. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

Months earlier, three other actresses had also come forward to say Darthés sexually harassed them.

argentina thelma fardin actress
@soythelmafardin / Instagram

Darthés denied the allegations and moved back to his home in Brazil, where Fardin then sued him.

thelma fardin sue juan darthes brazil metoo
Thelma Fardin attended the headquarters of the Specialized Prosecution Unit for Violence against Women (UFEM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 20, 2022, to hear the statement of Juan Darthés in Brazil. (Photo via Reuters)

On Sunday May 14, the court acquitted Darthes over “insufficient evidence”.

argentina thelma fardin juan darthes acquitted
Thelma Fardin appears at a press conference at the Amnesty International offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 13, 2023 after the Brazilian Justice acquitted the Juan Darthés. (Photo via Reuters)

“The court asks for proof… What are they asking the youth? I was a 16-year-old girl… What is justice demanding from the youth? That they film themselves when they are abused?,” Fardin said after the ruling at a press conference with Amnesty International.

thelma fardin juan darthes acquitted amnesty
Thelma Fardin delivers a press conference in Buenos Aires, on July 14, 2022. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

“Justice will be the last line of defense against a historically violent and patriarchal system,” she said. “I want to ask all those who dared to speak out, following the conference in 2018, don’t let the verdict indoctrinate you. It doesn’t indoctrinate me, and it shouldn’t indoctrinate the individuals going through this, either.”

argentina thelma fardin juan darthes metoo
Thelma Fardin attended the headquarters of the Specialized Prosecution Unit for Violence against Women (UFEM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 20, 2022, to hear the statement of Juan Darthés in Brazil. (Photo via Reuters)

The acquittal does not mean that the event did not happen, but that the judge simply did not find enough evidence to prove the rape, according to Amnesty International.

argentina actresses thelma fardin
@actrices.argentinas / Instagram

Fardin said she will appeal.

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