Kiss on the mouth to Spanish woman  soccer star condemned worldwide

The kiss on the mouth of the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales , to the player Jennifer Hermoso has generated a strong controversy on social networks echoed by numerous international media, with criticism of an action that some political representatives in Spain they qualify as “sexual violence”.

Rubiales gave the Spanish soccer player a kiss on the mouth this Sunday after grabbing her by the head, during the medal ceremony after Spain was proclaimed world champion of women’s soccer by beating England 1-0 in Sydney, Australia.

“I didn’t like it,” the player said in the locker room on Instagram, although later, through statements released by the federation, she stated that it was “a gesture of friendship and gratitude”, something “totally spontaneous because of the immense joy that comes from winning a World Cup”.

Rubiales described his action as “an unimportant show of affection” and “something without evil”, in statements to Spanish stations such as Radio Marca and Cadena COPE in which he disqualified those who criticize him with insults.

Media such as the British The Guardian , the American  New York Times  CNN and Forbes, the French LÈquipe, and France 24 picked up on the controversy.

The Spanish acting Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, warned on the social network X that “we should not take it for granted that kissing without consent is something ‘that happens’. It is a form of sexual violence.”

“What we all think, if they do that with all of Spain watching, what will they not do in private? Sexual violence against women has to end,” said the acting Spanish Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, on the same social network.

The acting Spanish Minister of Sport, Miquel Iceta, in statements to the state radio station RNE, considered the action “unacceptable” and the first thing he has to do is give explanations and make excuses.”

The action protocol against sexual violence of the Royal Spanish Football Federation establishes that physical contact such as “attracting with the arm with the intent to kiss ” or “kissing by force” must be considered “situations, attitudes, and behaviors related to sexual violence”.

“These behaviors are unacceptable and will entail immediate consequences,” says the text, which does not detail what these measures are or how it is determined if the action has been committed “by force.”

In Spain there are sentences that consider a kiss on the mouth as a sexual assault, even without violence, if the victim declares that he did not consent to it.

María del Prado Escoda, from the Spanish Association of Judges for Democracy, told EFE that in this case there is also another dimension: “The kiss is being given by a person in a position of labor superiority over the other.” Therefore, “it is not only sexual violence, it is also violence and an abuse of power.”