More than 200 women from across Spain have anonymously shared their personal experiences of sexism or abuse of power in the workplace, as the reckoning sparked by Luis Rubiales’ unsolicited kiss spills into other spheres of Spanish society.
Since mid-August Spain has been in the grip of a national conversation over sexism in football after the federation president grabbed the player Jenni Hermoso by the head, pulled her towards him and planted a kiss on her lips at the World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney.
While Rubiales initially brushed off criticisms of the kiss, dismissing critics as “idiots and stupid people”, there was a clamour for change within Spanish football. Across the country people declared Se Acabó, meaning “it’s over”, as the football federation pulled its support for Rubiales, the coach of the women’s national team was sacked, and Hermoso filed a criminal complaint accusing Rubiales of sexual assault.
Helena Legido-Quigley, a professor at Imperial College London, wondered if there was more to be said. “I thought this is our chance,” she said. “When we talk to each other, most of us have experienced something like what happened to Jenni, but people are very scared to talk.”
Working with members of Women in Global Health Spain, Legido-Quigley put out a call on social media. “We’ve all felt we can identify with Jenni Hermoso,” she wrote as she invited women in academia and healthcare – the two fields in which she works – to anonymously send in their experiences.
Five days later, more than 200 stories had poured in. “I was completely shocked,” she said. “What happened to Jenni has really created a moment for women to start sharing their stories.”
The uproar over Rubiales’ behaviour as well as the applause and standing ovation given to him by members of the federation after he railed against “false feminism” shone a spotlight on the deep sexism that continued to exist in some Spanish institutions.
The women who contacted Legido-Quigley added to this picture, detailing behaviour that ranged from lewd comments to inappropriate touching and sexual assaults. “Most of them said, ‘I’m just going to share two or three stories from the many that I’ve had,’” said Legido-Quigley. “So this is the first scary bit, that for most women it’s not only one incident, it’s several incidents during their career.”
Most had never reported the incidents, citing reasons that ranged from fear to not knowing how to do so. Some did mention it to colleagues or their superiors, only to have the incidents dismissed as part of what women are expected to put up with in the workplace. A handful of stories came in from fields beyond healthcare and academia, as women seized the chance to speak out.
While the incidents at times happened in a flash, the ramifications often lasted a lifetime. “In several cases they said it destroyed their careers,” said Legido-Quigley. Others spoke of the psychological harm. “Some said that they were sharing this for the first time. They hadn’t even told their partners.”
In the coming weeks she and those at Women in Global Health Spain plan to analyse the responses and explore whether there are solutions that have been implemented in other countries that could help protect Spanish women.
“I think what this says about Spanish society is that what we call micromachismos are normalised,” she said. “So these comments about women, about the way they look, there is this kind of humour, it’s normalised behaviour. Women feel uncomfortable but they don’t dare to highlight it because of power [imbalances].”
What was clear already, however, was how the prevalence of precarious jobs had worked to silence these women’s voices, particularly in academia. “It’s important to understand the context, academia is very precarious, there are very few positions. So I think they prey on this precarity,” she said. “I think this is a #MeToo moment for Spain, but we are not ready to give names and shame institutions. That’s the key difference. Because people are really scared of losing their jobs. ”
Some of this power imbalance was on display as Rubiales initially brushed off criticism of the kiss, describing it as just “a little peck”, in comments that made no mention of the fact that he was her superior.
Months earlier, 15 players on the national women’s team had refused to play for their coach Jorge Vilda. All sent identical letters saying the situation with him had affected their health and emotional state and they did not intend to return until a solution was found.
The Rubiales-led federation swiftly shot back, declaring that it would not call up any of the players until they “admit their error and apologise”. Ultimately, only three of the 15 players ended up on the World Cup squad.
The weeks-long ordeal showed that Spain still had work to do, said Legido-Quigley. “In other fields Spain has been very progressive,” she added, highlighting the recently passed consent law as an example. “But I think when it comes to the workplace, we need to think of new ways for women to feel safe. We need a safe environment where women can report this and be listened to.”
