Íñigo Errejón has resigned from his position as spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies and has abandoned institutional politics after a series of accusations of sexist violence to which has been added, later, a complaint from actress Elisa Mouliaá for sexual harassment. However, that of the until now parliamentary leader of Sumar is by no means the first episode in which complaints and accusations of sexist violence splash into politics. Silvio Berlusconi, Ismael Alvarez ―mayor of Ponferrada for the PP known by the Nevenka case―, Miguel Angel Bustamante (UI) or your own donald trump They are some of the most high-profile cases.
In Spain it is difficult to remember a political earthquake that links politics and accusations of sexist violence of dimensions as large as that of Íñigo Errejón. Not in vain, he is one of the most relevant political figures of the last decade in Spain, one of the builders of the space of the transformative left (since Canuntil Add passing through More Madrid) and until a few hours ago spokesperson for Yolanda Díaz in Congress.
All of this reached a point of collapse this Thursday when he announced his resignation – as has been known, under pressure from the leadership of Sumar and Más Madrid – with a letter on the social network X and the accusations of sexist violence became known. that motivated his departure. There is a shadow of doubt about the deficiencies that Sumar’s protocols could have presented to detect and act against possible cases of sexual assault or harassment.
The truth is that nothing seems to have moved until the journalist Cristina You Will Fail He made public on his Instagram account a series of testimonies that many users on social networks linked to Errejón. The support for the victims after some details have become known and, especially, Mouliaá’s complaint has been practically unanimous. But that wasn’t always the case..
Errejón’s case is difficult to compare to other similar cases in Spain due to the great media relevance of its protagonist. If anything, in terms of magnitude, it could be assimilated to the Nevenka case. Ismael Alvarezwho was mayor of Ponferrada for People’s Party (PP) was denounced by Nevenka FernandezCouncilor for Finance in the same city council and much younger than him, for sexual harassment. She ultimately became the first woman to win a trial for this crime against a politician.
However, the social reaction after Nevenka Fernández’s complaint was very different from what has been occurring in recent times with the alleged victims of sexist violence by Errejón. Fernández was accused of lying, her version was missed and she had to see how a large part of society supported the mayor. It is a very different situation than in 2024.
Other famous cases in Spanish politics are those of Carlos Flores Juberias (Vox), Juan Luis Cepa (PSOE), Juan Carlos Fernandez (PP), Angel Hernandez (PSOE), Javier Liso (Vox), Miguel Angel Bustamante (United Left), Pere Nolasc (ERC) or Pablo Soto (More Madrid), among others. All of them resigned, were forced to do so, or were directly expelled from their respective formations.
In the case of Bustamante, who also had national reach as he was a congressman, he is still active in the ranks of Izquierda Unida, a party to which his pulse did not tremble to expel him when it was learned that the politician’s wife had denounced him for habitual abuse. Then, Bustamante resigned from his seatalthough he continues to plead innocent. It is a scandal that took place in 2022. Three years earlier, in 2019, Más Madrid expelled Pablo Soto after an accusation of sexual harassment. Whoever was not expelled from the party went to Carlos Flores Juberíasby Vox. The current deputy of the extreme right party received a sentence for habitual psychological violence and more than twenty offenses of coercion and insults directed against his ex-partner.
Much less time ago, this same year, the former Rivadavia councilor for the Popular Party Juan Carlos Fernandez He was arrested for threatening and shaking his partner in the street. Shortly after, his party announced that he was resigning from all his positions. Something similar happened with Javier Liso when he was a councilor in Badajoz for Vox. His party demanded that he resign from his position as councilor after a complaint of threats. Juan Luis Cepawho was spokesperson for Agriculture and Livestock of the Socialist Group in the Cortes of Castilla y León and attorney of Salamanca, He was forced to resign after being involved in a child abuse case.. These are cases that, due to the lesser political relevance of their protagonists, had a much lower media impact than that of Errejón.
In Spain, since the Parity Law was approved and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on June 27 of this same year, it is mandatory that political organizations have a protocol to act before “the sexist violence that exercise, inside or outside the organization, affiliates or people who, without being affiliated, have a representative position or have been designated for a specific function.” The majority of parties, as has been verified Publicthey have it, although not all of them.
What the funerals of Berlusconi or Bush reveal
If there is a political leader, in this case beyond the Spanish State, who has stood out for sexual scandals, it is the Italian. Silvio Berlusconipresident of the Italian Republic in two stages (2001-2006 and 2008-2011) and owner of the AC Milan football club between 1986 and 2017. He received a sentence for paying for the sexual services of a underage prostitutealthough he had to face more than thirty trials for various crimes. The truth is that, despite everything, he retained the admiration of a large part of Italian society to the point of receiving a massive state funeral.
It is a case similar in substance, although not in form, to that of George H.W. Bush, whom several women reported for sexual harassment. Also in his case, the United States paid tribute to him with a solemn state funeral. Both leaders were able to develop long political careers at the head of two great world powers without his career being conditioned by complaints of sexist violence.
Currently, another international leader, Evo Moralesis receiving accusations of sexual violence and, in particular, against a minor. Various media, as The Countryhave already echoed the omerta that is generated around these types of cases.
donald trumpfor his part, is sentenced to pay more than 80 million dollars for sexually abuse of a woman and yet could become president of USA on November 5th. The case of French is very different. Dominique Strauss-Kahnwho went from being president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and great hope of Socialist party to leave politics after being accused of sexually assaulting a hotel cleaner in New York.
The way society receives, even today, some cases of sexist violence is different and depends on multiple factors. Some of them are, of course, the degree of progress of each of the countries in terms of feminismthe public relevance of the character, the nature of the specific case, the number of accusations and complaints or the media support for the accused.
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