To think this isn't sexual assault...

[harerunner]

I saw a story on the BBC about Jenni Hermoso testifying in a sexual assault case about her kiss with Luis Rubiales. Not having seen the kiss, I decided to look at a video of it, a link of which I've put below.

Firstly, i need to say I think sexual assault is extremely serious, and it's appalling how low the conviction rate is for sexual crimes. Men get away with far too much, and it's sickening.

However, in all honesty, i wouldn't class the kiss here as sexual assault. This is a lengthy full body embrace followed by a very brief peck of a kiss.

If something like this is classed as sexual assault, then it surely makes it impossible to initiate anything physical at all without explicit verbal consent.

Surely there's much more to this... i reckon she hated the guy before this incident and this was a way to get him back for other shitty and belittling treatment from him over the years.

AIBU?

@ElephantMilk Because it really wasn't a big deal. They know this so they're not going to roll over
is that why he's going to be prosecuted

Perhaps read the multiple posts where I've already addressed that. 😉

Is he going to prosecuted? How do you know that?

Since when has a court case for sexual assault been cancel culture, what an odd take

...where I said that I'd expect somebody to refrain once told but that I wouldn't be hugely offended by a non-sexual display of affection which is pretty much what both examples constitute.

Inappropriate and criminal are worlds apart.

Would your response have been different if he did this to a male player or is it okay because he did it to a female?
Either way it is non consensual sexual touching and constitutes a criminal offence. He should have shook her hand and congratulated her like he would have done to a male player!!

To use the quote function go to the post you want to quote, click the three dots at the top right and choose the quote option

Just leaving this here in case it's at all helpful.... 🙄

I’ve seen you say that you’re not fussed because there was no sexual intent.

I haven’t seen you address what would have happened if you said you said you didn’t consent to being kissed. As you said it happened up to your early teens so you could have said no or moved away?

If it’s a criminal offence (yet to be established) how come so many people are saying it would have been ok if he had just apologised?

Trying to get land somebody with a criminal conviction/on the sex offenders register/destroy their career over a non-sexual kiss of congratulation is akin to trying to cancel them. People that think like this scare me tbh and honestly I'd not give a shit if they were hit by a bus tomorrow lol. Too many people like that around nowadays.

I agree. People are very casual with other people’s lives and reputations.

I think Hermoso has been driven by vindictiveness and vanity and I don’t see her as a victim at all.

she has only undermined women and real sexual assault victims.

If he kissed her without consent, which you agree, then that is against the law in Spain and she is within her rights to give evidence as the Spanish authorities have taken him to court. That is not cancel culture that is the law.

If you don't like the law in Spain then campaign to change it. All the rest of your options including the one that someone giving evidence at a trial should be hit by a bus is irrelevant. The law is the law.

I didn't say "press charges". I said "pursue matters legally". As in reporting to the police and so on? I don't know how it works in Spain, but in the UK, the police and prosecution services aren't psychic. They work on information received. Thousands and thousands of crimes of varying severity are never reported, for a variety of reasons, including personal reparations from the perpetrator, perhaps in the form of an apology and an accompanying gift. Whatever the reason a crime is unreported, the lack of report doesn't undo the crime.

You cannot possibly claim that if Hermoso would have accepted an apology, then it would not have qualified as sexual assault. It would still be sexual assault.

It's been known for drivers to successfully dissuade witnesses from reporting them for dangerous driving by apologising for their behaviour. It doesn't alter what happened!

The law is the law. Yet people have been queuing up to say it could all have been sorted with a simple apology.

make it make sense.

That's irrelevant. The law is the law and she is entitled to give evidence to the judge the same as any other witness. Because that's the law.

It would NOT be sexual assault if Hermoso had accepted an apology and there was no police or legal action. He would be convicted of nothing.

it only becomes sexual assault in the event of a conviction.

if he is acquitted or no trial proceeds from the preliminary hearings then by definition he remains innocent of any crime.

Is this your first day on planet Earth? Is that why you think humans have no means of communicating with each other or of mediating personal conflicts other than the police?

I cannot even being to explain how little sense this post makes

I started but then I gave up. Because some people are just not worth the effort

You carry on in your own world but maybe try to learn to quote...

ive made reference to that very process. There should have been an investigation by the Spanish FA had she complained to them and mediation would have been an option.

instead she disregarded all due process and went on global media to make allegations about a workplace matter.

I can understand the Spanish FAs frustration. I think any employer would find that difficult.

Sometimes I look at my cat and I get the sense that there is literally nothing behind the eyes.

Sometimes posts on this thread feel like that...

(Not yours @NeighbourhoodWatchPotholeDivision to be clear)

It’s quite simple. If he is acquitted, then no sexual assault has taken place. The law is the law.

Yay you quoted!! 🥳 I'm glad my instructions helped

Oh dear lord…

but yes, congratulations on managing to quote

Yes. Did you understand my point this time?

The law is the law.