The night Spain won the Women’s World Cup in 2023 should have been forever etched in Jenni Hermoso’s memory as one of the best moments of her life.
Instead, it was permanently tainted when she was sexually assaulted by her boss.
Now, the football star has got some justice for the shocking events of that night.
On February 20, following a two-week trial, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, was found guilty of sexual assault.
“After everything, this will create an important precedent in society, where there is still much work to do,” Hermoso, 34, shared on Instagram following the verdict. “My heart is full of each person who was with me and will stay with me in this fight.”
Spain beat England 1-0 on August 20, 2023, at Sydney’s Stadium Australia to win their country’s first Women’s World Cup.
After the star forward was presented with her medal, the powerful Spanish football chief embraced Hermoso before he grabbed her head with both hands and kissed her on the lips in front of an entire stadium of fans and tens of millions of viewers globally.
“I behaved like a sportsperson, like I was one more member of the team,” Rubiales later defended himself.
The moment sent shockwaves around the world as consent and the treatment of women in sport were put under the microscope.
Hermoso and her teammates refused to play while Rubiales remained in charge.
They only returned weeks later after the government mediated an agreement with the federation’s interim president to overhaul its protocols.
“I felt it was totally out of place and I then realised my boss was kissing me, and this shouldn’t happen in any social or workplace setting,” Hermoso testified during the trial. “I felt disrespected. One of the happiest days of my life was tarnished.”
The trial was the first high-profile test of Spain’s tougher new sexual assault laws, which state that consent cannot be assumed by default or silence, as it was previously. Rubiales had claimed he asked for permission, which Hermoso had denied.
“This action of giving a woman a kiss on the mouth has a clear sexual connotation, and it is not the normal way of greeting people with whom one does not have an emotional relationship,” Judge José Manuel Clemente Fernández-Prieto said during his ruling.
Rubiales, who is set to appeal the verdict, was fined over $17,000 and banned from approaching or contacting Hermoso for one year. He and three other federation officials were cleared over charges of coercion for allegedly subjecting Hermoso to a campaign to declare the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso’s fight for justice has taken a toll. Now playing club football in Mexico, she revealed in court she was forced to leave Madrid after receiving death threats.
But she continues to hope for a better future for the players who will come after her.
“Now, a very beautiful path has been forged for all these girls who are starting out and who now have role models, examples to look up to, and they will have a much easier time,” she told players’ organisation FIFPRO.
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website.
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website.
