Considerate talk丨Severely punish sexual harassment in the workplace! The Spanish women's football team must fight the "scum" to the end

Because of the forcible kiss of the Spanish female footballer, the president of the country's football association, Ruviales, became a street rat shouted at by everyone in football and even throughout Spain. Not surprisingly, he faces a severe penalty of dismissal, investigation and a 15-year ban by FIFA. And will die in Spain as "scum". Is such a punishment excessive? Not. Because the mistake Ruviales made is more humble than sexual harassment in the workplace.

Written by | Yu Ruiyin

Editor丨 Feng Xiao

In August 1945, the "Victory Kiss," born in the joyous atmosphere of victory in World War II, witnessed one of its worst imitations 78 years later – coincidentally, also in August.

Caption: The famous kiss of victory born at the end of World War II.

On August 20, at the Women's World Cup award ceremony, the champion Spain hugged each other on stage, and the president of the country's football federation, Luis Rubiales, suddenly faced each other, lip to lip, and kissed Hermoso sharply after hugging the team's meritorious striker Jennifer Hermoso. This sudden scene shocked everyone.

Caption: Ruviales forcibly kissed the women's football player, not enough to close the face, but also to the mouth.

As things fermented for a week, Ruviales's attitude of not admitting mistakes and indifference poured another spoonful of oil on the anger of the people. According to an exclusive report by the Daily Mail, FIFA is ready to punish the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Lubiales, who has been suspended for the forcible kissing incident, for 15 years banned from football.

And this is only the punishment imposed on him in international football.

Although Ruviales himself did not admit his mistake and instigated the Spanish Football Association to "open legal proceedings" against Hermoso's remarks in this matter, it is an indisputable fact that he has offended public anger. 81 Spanish female footballers and 11 national team managers at all levels launched a "general resignation", announcing that they would refuse to play for their country if the president of the football federation did not change hands. The Spanish national leader came out to condemn him strongly, and all sides demanded that Ruviales pay for his folly. As a result, Rubiales may face a series of punishments such as investigation, dismissal, and social death in Spain.

Caption: Hermoso's unhappiness is written on her face, but what can she do?

Rubiales' death was divided into two stages - the first was sexual harassment, no matter how he emphasized that he only made intimate acts beyond reasonable scope out of friendship and celebration, but since Hermoso himself admitted in an interview immediately after the incident that it was involuntary and uncomfortable, it was undoubtedly sexual harassment.

As for the second step, it is suspected of abuse of power; Abuse of power caused by sexual harassment can easily make big waves in a workplace where equality is increasingly emphasized.

One clear piece of evidence is that after the matter began to spark controversy, Hermoso quickly changed his tone and said: "The chairman and I have a good relationship, and his gestures are friendly to all of us, which is a natural gesture of affection and gratitude." An act that comes from friendship and gratitude should not be over-interpreted. "It's hard to imagine that you didn't get pressure from the FA or Ruviales himself to quickly throw out such correct nonsense.

Is Ruviales really "friendly"? In addition to an awkward kiss on the podium, Parallolo, who scored the winning goal in the final, broadcast the dressing room celebration live on social media after the game, but inadvertently recorded an uglier scene. In the shot, Ruviales not only puts his arm around Hermoso's shoulder without hesitation, but also seems to be "full of boyfriend" to announce that he will reward her with a free trip, because "there, we will celebrate Jennifer (Hermoso) wedding together" - too much offense, already out of nowhere; To give a background, Hermoso is gay and her ex-girlfriend Putellas is also in the Spanish squad.

Caption: In the dressing room after the game, Ruviales had other inappropriate movements and words.

Now, the free trip promised by Ruviales when he was on the brain will probably never be fulfilled. This has become a mark of shame, turning the summer of victory that the girls should have celebrated with indulgence. Nadia Tronconi, a journalist for the Spanish newspaper El País, wrote: "It is a shame that such a beautiful day should be ruined by such a vile 'manhood'. Spain's Minister for Equality, Erin Montero, can be seen as an official position: "We should not take kisses without consent for granted. This is a form of sexual violence that women experience every day but ignored by most people, and we cannot consider it 'normal'. 'Consent' is at the heart of it all, and consent is only when women explicitly say 'yes'. ”

On the other hand, the vile Ruviales denied the existence of sexual harassment throughout the process, which to some extent also reflected a deep-rooted perception of men in the workplace. In the process of this "forced kiss", Hermoso did not explicitly express his words and actions to object, and Ruviales thought that this was a moment of universal celebration, and what was the big deal with kissing - all this happened under the premise of "you and I will" from his male chauvinist perspective. But if you look at it carefully, why wasn't Hermoso stuck in that awkward situation? Privately, Ruviales is her top supervisor, and tearing her face like this is tantamount to digging a hole for herself; From the scene, Spanish fans are watching the live broadcast with joy, will the seizure give people a feeling of ignorance of good and evil at this time?

So, the line from her unofficial live broadcast after the game - "I don't like that, huh? What can I do? - is the truest portrayal of the inner dynamics, only later covered by the "correct speech" under pressure. Obviously, the pressure from Hermoso comes from her public image as the core of women's football, but more from her and the president of the football association, which naturally has an unequal power structure. Many women in the real workplace do not even have the confidence to call the board like Hermoso, and the channels to speak; They experience unpleasant things on a daily basis, and they do not have the opportunity to become the topic of public opinion supervision like this "strong kiss" incident.

The previous hit TV series "Imperfect Victim" starring Zhou Xun is about a series of incidents caused by sexual assault in the workplace. From the PUA of superiors to subordinates, to the dilemma of difficulty in collecting evidence and identification, to the victims themselves can not withstand the huge pressure of public opinion, and the workplace suppression that may accompany it, more often can only choose to report the case anonymously, or simply be a "silent lamb"... In addition to distilling a set of practical methods and methods to guide women who have suffered from it, many real-world barriers are actually difficult to overturn. Of course, the fault is entirely on the abuser's side, and the victim does not and should not doubt himself.

Caption: The TV series "Imperfect Victim" tells the story of women's difficulties in defending their rights when they encounter sexual harassment in the workplace.

In competitive sports, the hormones of sports seem to blur the natural gender differences between men and women, and physical contact during training matches is unavoidable and sometimes necessary. All this has made the sports field the hardest hit area for sexual harassment and assault.

In October last year, the U.S. Soccer Association released a blockbuster report after a year of interviews and research by professional, independent investigators that women's soccer at all levels were rife with "systematic" emotional abuse and sexual misconduct, affecting multiple teams, coaches and players. In the NBA arena we are more familiar with, former Suns owner Robert Savor was forced to be investigated and sold his team after the incident was exposed because of his long-term involvement in racism, sexism and sexual harassment.

But when you think that justice has been done, that some people have left their positions of eminence, and that some people have gone into hiding in corners to continue to make their fortunes, where are the real victims?

What we see is that the US women's football team lost the 1/8 final, setting the worst record in history and the lowest ranking in FIFA, and the era when the world women's football team belonged to them seemed to have passed; What we see is that the Suns have fallen rapidly from the height of being infinitely close to the championship, although they still maintain the level of the playoffs and introduce strong reinforcements such as Durant and Beal, but the re-emergence under the new owner has paid the price of the golden period of the player's sports career.

Going back further, from the entertainment industry to the MeToo movement that spread to almost all walks of life, it was small people such as Larry Nasser (former U.S. women's gymnastics team doctor who was sentenced to 175 years in prison for sexual assault) who really enjoyed the "sexual power" of status and money, and those who really enjoyed the "sexual power" of status and money did suffer such and such reputational losses, but the real punishment did not come as the public opinion, but the victims themselves suspected in the whirlpool of public opinion mixed with various voices. Lost and not forever.

Caption: Savor was forced to sell the Suns, but the player's youth can not be delayed for a few years.

This is by no means the task of one party. From investigation, evidence collection, identification, arbitration, judgment, and implementation, it should rely on the professional and independent team of the affiliated institution to guide and advance; Instead of letting athletes risk being "put in small shoes" to do the work of investigators, prosecutors, and spokespersons in addition to their already heavy training and competition. Leaving individuals against entrenched power structures is a blasphemy against the will of individuals, and it is first and foremost the system itself that should be changed. Even if it means lifting the scabbed scars of the system and revealing the foul-smelling pus underneath, only by letting everything see the sun can the Spanish girls' struggle this summer really be meaningful.