The former Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality Rosa Monteiro defended this Tuesday that the controversial kiss of Luis Rubiales to Jenni Hermoso, during the celebrations of the Women’s Soccer World Cup, is nothing more than another warning of the need to reinforce the Portuguese Penal Code and , from the beginning, includes the crime of sexual harassment.
“We still do not have a crime classified as sexual harassment. This year, the proposal to effectively create the crime of sexual harassment was rejected in the Assembly of the Republic. There is an understanding of a criminal current, which has not exactly been very favorable for the women victims of any form of violence in our country,” she says, speaking with TSF.
The researcher from the University of Coimbra, who highlights the existence of article 170 of the Penal Code, which provides for the crime of sexual harassment, considers that this is limited and advances that there are several international institutions that agree with this premise.
“The Council of Europe has warned, has made recommendations to our country and to those who legislate – the Assembly of the Republic, in this case – that what is foreseen must be created and expanded,” he explains.
If Luis Rubiales’ attitude were replicated on Portuguese soil, Rosa Monteiro stressed that the Portuguese Football Federation had, since last year, a disciplinary regulation that acts in similar situations, noting, however, that the problem in Portugal continues to be in response.
“We continue to have a very large and very considerable resistance to recognizing what are even conducts provided for in legislation, regulations and international instruments, of which our States are transmitters, therefore, we also still do not have sufficient mechanisms for an effective response.” to these situations”, he laments.
The former Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality explains that this situation also contributes to the fact that the victims continue to be suspicious, which makes them not feel comfortable filing a complaint.
“There is a lot of fear, a lot of apprehension on the part of the victims to file complaints, even when these mechanisms exist in the employers -I imagine when they do not exist-. The victims”, he argues.
Regarding the behavior of the leader of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rosa Monteiro considers that it was unacceptable and reveals a problem in the institutions.
“It was this structural machismo and sexism, it is something that is rooted in the functioning of the institutions, we know and understand that these are behaviors that were traditionally devalued, but at this moment they are not,” he emphasizes, stating that, for this reason, they are requires a different attitude from all those who are in charge of the institutions.
“Anyone who is in the direction of the institutions, whether they are political or of the type that they are, must have a very firm voice when it comes to establishing what is correct, what is correct, according to the moral and legal frameworks,” he shoots. , stating that this response is essential to avoid cases that deprive women of their dignity, in addition to legitimizing violence and harassment.
Source: TSF
