Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

SEXISM

Spain’s PM blasts ‘repugnant’ video of students insulting women

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday described as “repugnant” a viral video of male students at a Madrid university residence cheering after one of them screamed obscenities at female students, including calling them "nymphomaniac whores".

Published: 7 October 2022 09:09 CEST
spanish university sexist insults
The video, which spread widely on social media, has dominated headlines in Spain and was condemned by various politicians, including Sánchez, a self-described feminist. Screenshot: Twitter

In the video recorded at night a man at a building across from a residence for female students can be heard screaming “Whores, come out of your burrows like rabbits, you are nymphomaniac whores. I promise we’re going to fuck all of you at the bull festival”.

The male student also threatened sexual assault before groups of men at windows of the male residence hall raised their window shutters in unison and cheered and shouted their own insults.

The video, which spread widely on social media, has dominated headlines in Spain and was condemned by various politicians, including Sánchez, a self-described feminist.

“We can’t tolerate such behaviours which generate hate and attack women…Enough of sexism,” he tweeted.

Asked about the video at a gathering of European leaders in Prague, Sánchez called the behaviour of the men in the video “inexplicable, unjustified and absolutely repugnant”.

The incident took place at Colegio Mayor Elías Ahuja, a residence for male students run by a Catholic religious order at the prestigious Complutense University.

The directors of the residence condemned the “unacceptable expressions made by a group of students” and apologised to the students at the female residence.

The residence said several of the male students involved had been expelled.

Another video from a previous academic year has surfaced showing Elías Ahuja residents performing a song which includes a Nazi salute and the words “Sieg Heil”. 

Opened in 1969, a room at the Colegio Mayor Elías Ahuja costa around €1,100 a month.

A former head of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, stayed there when he was a university student.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

SEXISM

Spanish prosecutors want Rubiales jailed for 2.5 years for World Cup kiss

Spanish prosecutors are seeking two-and-a-half years jail for disgraced ex-football chief Luis Rubiales who is facing trial for kissing Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips against her will, court documents showed Wednesday

Published: 27 March 2024 16:59 CET
Spanish prosecutors want Rubiales jailed for 2.5 years for World Cup kiss

Prosecutors also want Rubiales, who has been charged with sexual assault and coercion, to pay at least €50,000 ($54,000) in compensation to Hermoso, they wrote in a document sent to Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

During the incident, which took place on August 20 after Spain beat England to win the Women’s World Cup final in Australia, Rubiales held Hermoso’s head in both hands and forcibly kissed her on the lips.

The kiss took place live in front of the world’s cameras, provoking widespread outrage and prompting his suspension by world football governing body FIFA.  At the time, Rubiales brushed it off as “a consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 33, said it was not.

READ ALSO: Death of the Iberian macho: What the Rubiales kiss uproar says about Spain

Under Spanish law, a non-consensual kiss can be classed as sexual assault — a criminal category that groups all types of sexual violence.

Rubiales “grabbed the player’s head with both hands, and surprisingly and without consent or the player’s acceptance, he kissed her on the lips,” they wrote.

After realising the kiss could have “personal and professional consequences” with his suspension by FIFA on August 26, Rubiales and his entourage began to exert “constant pressure” on Hermoso so that she “publicly justify” the kiss as consensual.

PROFILE: Who is Spain’s disgraced football chief Luis Rubiales?

The pressure caused her “anxiety and intense stress” for several months, they wrote.

Prosecutors requested that the 46-year-old face a year behind bars for the kiss, and 18 months jail for the charge of coercion.

Three of his former associates are also being tried for putting pressure on Hermoso: former women’s coach Jorge Vilda, men’s team director Albert Luque and RFEF marketing boss Ruben Rivera.

In terms of compensation, prosecutors want Rubiales to pay Hermoso €50,000 for the kiss and have said that he and the three other defendants jointly pay her 50,000 euros for the coercion charge.

It was not immediately clear whether the amount would be evenly split.

Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.

SHOW COMMENTS