#MeToo exposed the abuse of women in Spain. It took football and #SeAcabo to spark a revolution

Source: The Guardian

#MeToo exposed the abuse of women in Spain. It took football and #SeAcabó to spark a revolution

The furore over Jenni Hermoso enduring that unwanted kiss after our World Cup victory has opened eyes to misogyny as never before

María Ramírez
Mon 28 Aug 2023 15.01 BST
Last modified on Tue 29 Aug 2023 02.30 BST

“Se acabó” (in Spanish, “it’s over”). Those words were used by Alexia Putellas and other Fifa Women’s World Cup champions on social media just before all of them announced they would not return to play for the national team if the current leadership remained in place. By Sunday night, #SeAcabó was on the jerseys of Sevilla men’s football team and was a hashtag used by the UN, Spain’s government and athletes around the world to show support for the Spanish team. #SeAcabó was also used by women speaking up about abuse and bullying they have experienced.

Football players, politicians, singers and ordinary people showed solidarity with Jenni Hermoso, the star forward who received an unwanted kiss on the lips from her boss, the head of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, during the World Cup trophy ceremony. As Hermoso put it, it was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

The team said “se acabó” after a beleaguered Rubiales ranted against Hermoso, the “scourge” of “fake feminism”, the Spanish deputy prime minister, the equality minister, journalists and inclusive language. Rubiales also said that touching his genitals after the win against England was a gesture of support for the team’s male coach (it is actually not a normal gesture in Spain, and he apologised for doing it when standing next to the queen and her 16-year-old daughter). All this happened after he and his team pressured Hermoso and her family, gave a version of events that she described as “categorically false” and denounced on live radio as “dumbass” and “dickhead” anyone who criticised him. The reverberations continue. Today, the authorities announced a preliminary sex abuse investigation.

“Se acabó” was a long time coming, after years of private and public complaints. ...

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/28/me-too-women-spain-football-se-acabo-jenni-hermoso

Non-walled link: https://archive.li/9PaDl