Who assaulted Alma in Raising Voices? Details of the perpetrator explored

Raising Voices (Ni una más in Spanish) is a recently released Spanish miniseries on Netflix dealing with the pertinent issue of s*xual assault. Raising Voices is based on a novel by the same name by author Miguel Sáez Carral. The plot follows the life of a 17-year-old high school student named Alma (Nicole Wallace) whose life gets turned upside down after she posts the news about a s*xual predator in her school.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Netflix's Raising Voices

The eight-episode miniseries delves into the events of a particular night and what followed, leading to the perpetrator's arrest. The official logline, as per Netflix, reads:

"A 17-year-old student's life takes a huge turn when she hangs on the school's facade a billboard saying 'Careful: R*pist hiding here'."

While it is Alma who lets people in her high school know about the s*xual predator, she was not the one who was explicitly assaulted by him. The series however reveals that Alma was taken advantage of when she was under the influence of illicit substances. It was revealed that her friend Hernan was the one who took advantage of her.

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How Alma was taken advantage of by her friend Hernan

Raising Voices is a series that explores multiple facets of s*xual violence and deals with sensitive issues like consent. In the fourth episode of the series, Alma is talking to her friend Greta (Clara Galle) and reveals she had an unwanted s*xual encounter with their friend Hernan.

She narrates the incident of a particular night when Greta and Alma went clubbing. However, she had taken MDMA with Hernan and, to avoid further embarrassment left the club without informing Greta. Alma had an unpleasant incident at home and eventually thought spending the night with Hernan would have comforted her.

However, Alma could not remember what transpired the night till much later. She later confronted Hernan and even called him out, saying that a "real friend" would have taken her home if she had been in her condition. It was only in episode seven that Hernan owned up to his mistake of sleeping with Alma when she was not in a condition to consent fully.

In the first episode of Raising Voices, Alma hangs a glaring banner, notifying students of a r*pist on the school campus. This incident was spurred by Alma's own experience, which prompted her to seek justice for Berta.

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Who is the perpetrator Alma calls out through her banner in Raising Voices?

The perpetrator in question is only revealed in episode 6 of Raising Voices. Amid conversations surrounding s*xual violence, Alma's friend Berta (Teresa de Mera) confides in her how she was molested as a young girl by their history teacher, Mr. Juan Lopez Sanchez (Iván Massagué).

Berta and Alma plan to take down the predator through a covert social media account where Berta can voice out her scarring experience while remaining anonymous. However, Alma realizes she needs to take action and decides to see Juan Lopez Sanchez for one-on-one tutoring.

Berta initially detests the idea of Alma meeting the teacher one-on-one because she fears for her friend's safety. However, an unpleasant incident occurs which leads to Berta tragically taking her own life.

Berta's suicide prompts Alma to take drastic steps, and she hangs the banner in the final episode of the season. Alma notifies other girls in the school about the predatory history teacher so that they do not have to endure the same violence. However, the perpetrator finally comes to light when she uploads a photo of the teacher on her account, hoping that someone would recognize him and come forward with their own account of molestation.

The bold move by Alma finally bears fruit as another student speaks out about the same, which leads to Mr. Sanchez's arrest by the police.

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Raising Voices is a bold series that highlights the nuances of se*ual violence not only through the story of the focal perpetrator but also through experiences faced by other girls at the hands of their peers. All episodes of Raising Voices are currently streaming on Netflix.