The soccer player Jennifer Hermoso, player of the Spanish national team, filed an express complaint on Tuesday with the State Attorney General’s Office for the non-consensual kiss she received from Luis Rubiales, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), during the celebration for victory in the Women’s World Cup. As reported by the public ministry, which opened investigation proceedings at the end of August for a possible crime of sexual assault and invited the athlete to take this step, the National Court Prosecutor’s Office intends to file a complaint for the events in “as soon as possible”. Rubiales is suspended by FIFA.
He Rubiales case, which has transcended Spanish borders and has stirred up world sport in recent weeks, thus faces a new scenario. The complaint formalized by Hermoso was essential for the Prosecutor’s Office to be able to act criminally against the president of the RFEF. Prosecutor sources considered that, without this initiative by the player, they could not go ahead with the process, since article 191.1 of the Penal Code establishes that, to act for crimes of assault, harassment or sexual abuse, it is necessary to “report the aggrieved person, their legal representative or complaint from the Public Prosecutor’s Office. This point has meant that, in practice, the public prosecutor only acts ex officio when the victims are minors or especially vulnerable, such as disabled people.
In addition, in the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, the jurisdiction should fall on the National Court, since the alleged crime would have been committed by a Spaniard abroad – the incident occurred in Sydney (Australia), which hosted the championship final. For this reason, the case has fallen into the hands of the prosecutor lieutenant of this judicial body, Marta Durántez, who was present during Hermoso’s statement on Tuesday and who signed the August brief for the opening of the investigation proceedings.
In said resolution, the prosecutor lieutenant already understood that “the sexual act suffered” by the soccer player “was not consented to,” based on the public statements that the player had made. Through a statement, Hermoso made it clear that he felt “vulnerable” before Rubiales’ actions and that he was “the victim of an attack.” The top manager of the Federation kissed her on the mouth “while holding the player’s head with both hands”, as the public ministry explicitly described in its letter, where it stressed the commitment acquired by Spain with the signing of the 2011 Istanbul Convention (on preventing and combating violence against women), which establishes the obligation to “protect women against all forms of violence and to prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence ”.
The Criminal Code contemplates penalties of between one and four years in prison for those who carry out any act that violates the sexual freedom of another person without their consent.
global impact
Rubiales’ performance has shaken Spanish society and has attracted the attention of the whole world. The media from all over the world have echoed it, while the suspended RFEF president and his entourage have lashed out at the footballer, in their attempts to justify themselves. In his appearance on August 25 before the extraordinary general assembly of the Federation, Rubiales even presented himself as a victim of “false feminism” and, fiercely, even attacked members of the Government. “I am not going to resign, I am not going to resign, I am not going to resign!” He shouted, entrenched in office, moments before a part of the attendees stood up to applaud him. Among them, Luis de la Fuente and Jorge Vilda, respective coaches of the men’s and women’s teams.
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