The controversial kiss that the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, planted on the national team player Jennifer Hermoso after the victory against England was not a “peak of friends”, as Rubiales described it. It was “an act of machismo and harassment by a powerful boss towards a subordinate.” This is confirmed by several experts consulted by Prensa Ibérica, a group to which LA OPINIÓN belongs. In a historic moment of female empowerment, a lord, a boss, had to come and show who really has the power. “It was time to applaud them, not kiss them because he feels like it and with total impunity,” says Covadonga Peremarch, spokesperson for Feminist Emergency. Judicial sources, however, believe that we are not facing a case of harassment between a superior and an employee since there is no direct employment relationship between Rubiales and Hermoso.
“We cannot ignore this event. The center was them. They deserved to live that historic moment. It was a moment of freedom and power for them. However, Rubiales felt free to plant a kiss on Hermoso’s lips. Because? Because yes, because he felt like it, he wanted to and he felt free to do it ”, adds Peremarch.
Reportable fact
The experts assure that we are facing an event that can be perfectly denounced in court. In order to proceed judicially against the crimes of assault and sexual harassment, article 191 of the Penal Code requires the complaint of the aggrieved person, reports Cristina Gallardo. In this case, it is Hermoso who should take that step. Otherwise, the case would not have a criminal course.
Can the stolen kiss constitute a crime under the law of sexual freedom, better known as the law of only yes is yes? The lawyer from the Association of Women Jurists Themis, Ángela Alemany, sees it as complicated because “the key is that there was no consent,” reports the Efe agency. Only if Hermoso filed a complaint and declared that there was no consent, the case could move forward in court.
In any case, and beyond the legal terrain, countless voices have demanded that Rubiales ask, at least, for forgiveness from the world champion. However, the head of the Football Federation has assured that it was a “peak of friends celebrating something”. “We are not for bullshit,” he added, downplaying it and assuring that the debate originated is a matter of “dumb ass, idiots and stupid.”
lack of consent
Feminist platforms, however, do give importance to the unwanted kiss that the player received from a Spanish soccer authority. “There are protocols against harassment. What happened was a kiss without consent, a fact that can be denounced”, insists the spokeswoman for Feminist Emergency.
For the educational psychologist and doctor in Educational Sciences Mirta Lojo, the neither consented nor desired kiss is another expression of patriarchal violence. “It is unlikely that it would have occurred with the men’s soccer team. This man felt authorized to dispose of the player’s body, without permission, ”she says.
“It is exhausting to have to claim the right to one’s own body. It is time for the collective of men to review their toxic masculinity. This kiss establishes the basis on which this violence is legitimized. The reiteration of all kinds of attacks against women for the fact of being women is a matter of State and a social responsibility. The whole of society must disapprove of it”, stresses Lojo. Insisting on the idea that the act can be denounced if the victim so wishes, the social psychologist Gemma Altell points out, however, that society changes not only because of laws but also because of society’s reactions. A woman may know that the law allows her to go to court for something like that, but “what medium-term consequences would she have for her to report it?” “Having power or not having power is not something that depends only on the laws,” insists the expert.
At the moment of the kiss, the power is held by Rubiales, who grabs Hermoso’s face and plants a kiss on his mouth. She, meanwhile, is defenseless. “She does not feel validated to set a limit,” explains the social psychologist, who insists that she must also be very respectful of the degree of seriousness that Hermoso feels.
Reaction of the affected
The player, for her part, has not expressed herself at an official level, beyond a locker room conversation, in full celebration. In an atmosphere of joy, Hermoso is heard saying that he did not like (the kiss) but that he “what could he do”. The player’s mother, Marisol Fuentes, has given her opinion before the TVE cameras: “They are world champions, the rest is not important.”
Altell shows his astonishment at the fact that a person like Rubiales directs such an important institution. In his opinion, kissing on the lips “spreads dandruff and is unfortunate.” He shows, among other things, that Rubiales “lives outside of reality.”
Several members of the Government have come out in a rush to criticize this macho gesture. The acting ministers of Equality, Irene Montero, and of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, have described it on social networks as sexual violence. Meanwhile, the acting head of Culture, Miquel Iceta, has assured that we are facing an unacceptable fact and that Rubiales must “give explanations.”
“Surely I was wrong, I have to admit it”
Rubiales wanted to settle the controversy with an apology. “We are facing an historical event. Before a World Cup We have been working for this for a long time. But there is also a fact that I have to regret between me and a player, with whom I have a magnificent relationship. Surely I was wrong, I have to admit. In a moment of maximum effusiveness and without any bad faith, what happened happened. In a spontaneous way, without bad faith on either side, ”he said through a video posted on the Federation’s social networks. “We saw it as something natural and normal. But outside a commotion has been created by people who have felt damaged. I have to apologize, there is no other option,” Rubiales added, looking at the camera. “There are some statements, on my part, within this context, where I say that this seems idiotic to me. That’s why, because here inside it was not given the slightest importance. Outside they have been given it. I want to apologize to these people because I understand that if it has been seen differently from the outside, they will surely have their reasons, ”Rubiales added about the statements he gave after the final to Cadena Cope, where he called those who criticized his behavior idiots and stupid. .
2023-08-22 04:01:35
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