143. Subsequently, in 2017, the CEDAW Committee called on States to define rape, using lack of consent as a basis and “taking into account coercive circumstances”.268 In 2019, the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (hereinafter “the EDVAW Platform”),269 highlighted that “absence of consent must become the global norm to define rape” and called on States to “[r]eview criminal codes and ensure that the definition of rape is based on lack of consent, and is in line with international standards.”270 144. In December 2021, the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention (hereinafter “the Committee of Experts of the MESECVI” or “the CEVI”) prepared a general recommendation specifically on the concept of consent in cases of sexual violence against women for gender reasons.271 According to the MESECVI Committee of Experts, “the concept of consent in cases of sexual violence constitutes […] a legal concept that allows us to discern between the formation of a crime against the sexual freedom of a person and the performance of a consensual act.”272 Corroborating the understanding of the other international organizations and courts cited above, the CEVI stressed the importance of considering consent as a fundamental component in cases of sexual violence and stated that this should be understood as “the ability of women to indicate their willingness to participate in the act". According to the CEVI, this “concept constitutes the distinction between a consensual act and an act of abuse or rape.”273 145. Taking the above into account, the Court agrees with the position of the different international organizations, so it considers that the criminal regulatory provisions related to sexual violence must contain the concept of consent as their central axis,274 that is, so that if a rape is committed, proof of threat, use of force or physical violence should not be required, it being sufficient to demonstrate, by any suitable means of proof, that the victim did not consent to the sexual act. Criminal offenses related to sexual violence must focus on consent, an essential element in access to justice for women victims of sexual violence. It is worth saying that it is not appropriate to demonstrate resistance to physical aggression, but rather the lack of consent, in accordance with Article 7 of the Belém do Pará Convention. It should be emphasized that consent can only be understood when it has been freely expressed through acts that, taking into account the circumstances of the case, clearly express the 268 Cf. CEDAW Committee, General Recommendation No. 35: gender-based violence against women, which updates general recommendation number. 19, CEDAW/C/GC/35, July 26, 2017, para. 29.e, and Expert opinion of Dubravka Šimonović, supra (evidence file, folio 11475). 269 The EDVAW platform is composed of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the UN Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination against Women and Girls, the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention, the Group of Experts on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, and the Rapporteurship of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Women's Rights. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-violence-against-women/edvawplatform-cooperation-among-un-global-and-regional-womens-rights-mechanisms. Cf. Declaration of the EDVAW Platform of November 25, 2019. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/specialprocedures/sr-violence-against-women/edvaw-platform-cooperation-among-un-global-and-regional-womens-rightsmechanisms, and Expert opinion of Dubravka Šimonović, supra (evidence file, folio 11475). 270 271 Cf. Committee of Experts of the MESECVI, General Recommendation No. 3: The concept of consent in cases of genderbased sexual violence against women, OEA/Ser.L/II/7.10, MESECVI/CEVI/doc.267/21, December 7, 2021, and Written version of the expert opinion of Sylvia Mesa Peluffo, supra (evidence file, folio 11655). 272 Cf. Committee of Experts of the MESECVI, General Recommendation No. 3, supra, p. 24. 273 Cf. Committee of Experts of the MESECVI, General Recommendation No. 3, supra, p. 5. Along the same lines, the expert witness Bruñol pointed out that “in the crime of rape, in comparative law, but also in international standards, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, for example, it is established very clearly that we must transition from those forms of physical and psychological, or structural violence that would be the basis of the crime of rape, to effectively focusing the entire classification on the element of the lack of all consent. Until now the crime of rape has tended to be classified in a way that centers around proving how that resistance was overcome, often requiring resistance, and not just focusing on the fact that the absence of consent already generates the crime. […] that is, there is a very important trend throughout the world, to move forward, both at the level of international standards at a conventional level, as well as at the level of comparative doctrine, to move towards a crime of rape focused on the lack of consent.” Cf. Expert opinion of Miguel Cillero Bruñol, supra. 274 48