Kissing an ESPN reporter is harassment, not a ‘brotherly kiss’

We need to name things by the names they already have. The famous “axe name”, as the popular proverb simplifies. What happened to ESPN reporter Jessica Dias Wednesday night (7), before the Flamengo-Velez Sarsfield match, was harassment. sexual harassment.

To say it was a “brotherly kiss”, as fan Marcelo Benevides Silva defended, is disrespectful to all women. He raped Jessica as a woman and as a professional.

If the act and justification are already disgusting, then the journalist’s testimony suggests there is more. The “kiss” on the face was exactly what the TV showed.

“Before, there were a lot of insults and harassment because it took so long to live. I asked calm and in order not to be insulted, he didn’t need to. Link and hold the position, there are logistics that require concentration.. Another attempt to kiss on his shoulder.. I evaded and my camera caught his attention “, As described on social media.

The role of the film crew accompanying Jessica was decisive. Contrary to what we often see, with men exempted from attitudes of machismo, misogyny and even harassment, as in this case, they were able to detain the fan who kissed the reporter and, according to ESPN information, asked the prime ministers to take him to the security department.

Accompanied by his son, the arrest warrant for Marcelo was issued at the Special Criminal Court on Wednesday, and on Thursday (8) in the morning he was transferred to the Jose Frederico Marques General Prison, in Benfica, in the northern region of Rio. But in the afternoon, the Rio de Janeiro court ordered the release of the harasser.

It was less than 24 hours of punishment for the man who, without permission, kissed Jessica Dias on camera. Thousands of people watched the scene of sexual harassment. And clubs, journalists and broadcasters issued a divorce statement, but only Jessica was a victim of the crime.

Jessica and more than 72% of women who have experienced harassment at work according to the survey A Mulher na Comunicação – her strengths and challenges carried out by the Brazilian Association of Business Communications (Aberje).

“I didn’t want a kiss, I didn’t want affection, I didn’t want to spend 3 hours in the police station. I just wanted to work.”

Sure enough, Jessica’s outburst is the outburst of countless other women who are being harassed daily at work, at home, on public transportation, on the streets and everywhere, and often don’t report it, either out of fear or out of disbelief that it will be There is just a punishment.

So, once again, the question remains: How long will we see these cases recur?

Watch Papo de Mina’s interview with Marcia Tafarel: