The world is bound to see the aftermaths of a nonconsensual kiss. Luis Rubiales is called for resignation after he kissed Jenni Hermoso on screen without her consent.
After falsely accusing Hermoso of lying, the regional leaders of the Spanish Football Federation have insisted on the resignation of President Luis Rubiales. On winning the Women’s World Cup final Rubiales kissed on the lips of Jenni Hermoso on national television, right after that Hermoso said live that she did not like the kiss and he didn’t have her consent. This statement has raised a tsunami in social media as every women player has been denied to play for the Spanish national team unless Luis Rubiales is removed from his post.
On this subject, Spain’s top criminal court launched a preliminary investigation on Monday. The motive of this investigation is to understand whether there has been any sexual misconduct or assault. Rubiales has repetitively denied any wrongdoing and the kiss was completely consensual. He also has stated that he is a victim of a “social assassination”. Yet, in that similar press meeting, when he said he would not resign, the auditorium majorly filled with men clapped on his conviction while the rest female audience was not pleased to witness.
After Hermoso clearly stated that Rubiales didn’t have her consent to kiss her on the lips, The Spanish football federation questioned her claim and threatened her by saying legal actions would be taken for “lies”. Teresa Parker working at a Women’s Aid, providing support to abused women and children, said this incident resonates with thousands of cases across the world. She said, “This is exactly why many women do not come forward to report harassment or abuse.”
She has added this could go “beyond gaslighting” and has happened in many cases. “We are being asked to ignore what you can see on film, and to dismiss a woman when she says she didn’t consent. It is an outrageous situation.” Gaslighting is a regressive way of emotional manipulation where the victim (of any gender) is deliberately fed with camouflaged information about a similar incident. And this entire process makes the victim question their primitive version of the incident.
According to the founder of Everyday Sexism Project, Laura Bates, “what we are seeing here is powerful men closing ranks to protect one another with a deliberate and sustained campaign of gaslighting and victim-blaming on an international scale,” she also added, “The irony is that women are so often told an allegation is meaningless without evidence.” She continued, “But what we can see from this case is that even when the evidence is iron-clad the woman is disbelieved anyway, so we really can’t win.”
She said that the message that has been conveyed to Hermoso by the wider world is terrifying, she also mentioned, “This happened on an international stage, witnessed by millions… and yet both Rubiales and the entire football institution told her she was wrong.” The reinforcement of Spain’s “MeToo” moment has given Hermoso and women around the world the strength to talk about every uncomfortable encounter and seek justice for it.
