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#SeAcab\u00f3. It\u2019s Spanish for \u2018it\u2019s over\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The phrase is\u00a0all over\u00a0social media, and has been scrawled across t-shirts since Spain won the Women\u2019s World Cup final\u00a0last week\u00a0\u2013 even those of Sevilla\u2019s men\u2019s football team.<\/p>\n
It feels like\u00a0the\u00a0country\u2019s\u00a0#MeToo moment, and for good reason.<\/p>\n
See, the Spain womens\u2019\u00a0incredible achievement\u00a0has been overshadowed by the actions of one 46-year-old man, Luis Rubiales. Ruibales is the powerful\u00a0President of the Spanish Football Federation,\u00a0who roughly kissed a player on the lips allegedly without consent, for the whole world to see.<\/p>\n
A man who has since refused to accept the consequences of his sexist actions. That he replaced the team\u2019s pride with an act\u00a0that truly showed the imbalance of\u00a0power\u00a0between him and the players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched the World Cup final in awe, and in agony. While I was gutted for the Lionesses, Spain are worthy winners, but their achievements have been ruined by\u00a0Rubiales. Tainted.<\/p>\n
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Though I slammed my laptop shut in misery after the final whistle blew, it wasn\u2019t long before I saw clips from the awards ceremony on social media.<\/p>\n
I was horrified\u00a0as\u00a0footage emerged of\u00a0Rubiales firmly grabbing\u00a0midfielder\u00a0Jenni Hermoso by the head with both hands \u2013 a move that makes anyone feel vulnerable, as you cannot escape \u2013 and\u00a0kissing\u00a0her on the lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw that his body was pressed tightly against hers. Too close, it seemed,\u00a0for comfort to be professional \u2013 or even friendly.<\/p>\n
At first\u00a0my instinct was to make\u00a0excuses for it, like every woman who has been sexually harassed probably does,\u00a0thinking it was a cultural difference between stuffy Brits and more liberal\u00a0Europeans.<\/p>\n
But then more footage\u00a0emerged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Images of Rubiales\u00a0carrying\u00a0women in shorts over his shoulder; embracing them in bear hugs just that little too tightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hands wrapped tightly around their waists as he kissed them. Grabbing his crotch in front of female Royals \u2013 one a teenager \u2013 as Spain beat England.<\/p>\n
It dawned on me that Hermoso had experienced the same sexual microaggressions as me \u2013 that she probably has for years. The same as every woman.<\/p>\n
It reminded me of every interaction\u00a0I\u2019ve had with dangerous men who believe their sex to be better. Men who believe it\u2019s their right to leer, to wolf whistle, at me in the street. The gropers in clubs who thought they had a right to my body. The bosses who think sex jokes and a macho attitude is acceptable.<\/p>\n
As of this weekend, Fifa has suspended Rubiales from any football-related activities for 90 days, pending an investigation into\u00a0the incident\u00a0\u2013 but\u00a0he\u2019s not going down without a fight.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s acting prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, called the kiss an \u2018unacceptable gesture\u2019<\/p>\n
The Spanish Football Federation accused Hermoso of lying when she said she didn\u2019t consent to the kiss \u2013 threatening legal action against her.<\/p>\n
Rubiales repeatedly refused to resign in a\u00a0stormy\u00a0press conference\u00a0on Friday, indicating he was part of a witch hunt with his critics supposedly \u2018preparing an execution\u2019 \u2013 calling the world\u2019s reaction \u2018false feminism\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I heard him\u00a0refer to the kiss as a \u2018consensual peck\u2019 \u2013 it reminded me of the gaslighting countless victims of sexual microaggressions have been subjected to.<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0also grim to see men in the audience applaud Rubiales\u2019\u00a0intransigence, but the global reaction has been cheering.<\/p>\n
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England defender Jess Carter said the kiss\u00a0had\u00a0\u2018tarnished\u2019 the team\u2019s success,\u00a0labelling it \u2018one of the most disrespectful things you can do.\u2019<\/p>\n
And,\u00a081 female players from Spain are\u00a0on strike from\u00a0playing for their country \u2013 even Borja Iglesias,\u00a0who has been capped twice by the men\u2019s\u00a0team in the last year, is refusing to return to international duty until justice is served.<\/p>\n
Almost all of the coaching and technical staff for Spain\u2019s women\u2019s team have also handed in their resignation, alongside seven members of the Spanish Football Federation.<\/p>\n
The President of the Spain women\u2019s football committee also quit, while\u00a0Spain\u2019s acting prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, called the kiss an \u2018unacceptable gesture\u2019,\u00a0echoing comments made by the acting equality minister, Irene Montero, who called it a \u2018form of sexual violence.\u2019<\/p>\n
I agree with her.<\/p>\n
Sadly, men in power will always triumph because they\u00a0seem to believe\u00a0women are lesser. That they own the achievements of talented women, as if\u00a0they are\u00a0owed a favour. That women are indebted to men; that men allowed us to step into their world \u2013 but for a price.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s exhausting and humiliating to live this way.<\/p>\n
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It appears football,\u00a0even women\u2019s football\u00a0will always be a man\u2019s game, unless this abuse of power is\u00a0dealt with. Until women and men are treated as equals.<\/p>\n
Rubiales will probably go. He\u2019ll have to. He\u2019ll be forced out as a disaster\u00a0for the sport and the country. A disgrace, and detriment to his country\u2019s success \u2013 but what next?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How long have\u00a0abuses of power\u00a0in sport\u00a0been hiding behind closed doors?<\/p>\n
Women \u2013 in sports, and out \u2013 have faced deeply-rooted systemic sexism for far too long. It needs a complete overhaul, not a knee jerk reaction that\u00a0sees just one man lose his job.<\/p>\n
Today, as\u00a0people\u00a0across Spain are expected to\u00a0continue to take\u00a0to the streets in protest, Spain\u2019s heroes are its women;\u00a0the\u00a0sisterhood who are enraged\u00a0that\u00a0it takes another abuse of power, an act of trauma,\u00a0for them to\u00a0be recognised as worthy voices.<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s women\u2019s team hasn\u2019t just been crowned World Champions, but the catalyst for much-needed, long-sought change.<\/p>\n
#SeAcab\u00f3, for good.<\/p>\n