Australia includes in its legislation the concept of affirmative consent, which implies the clear consent of both parties to have any type of sexual relations.
“Generally, anyone can file a complaint. However, for the incident to be investigated, the victim would have to present a formal testimony”
Australian Policewhere the final of the Women’s Soccer World Cup was played, could investigate the kiss given by the president of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, to Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s victory if the soccer player denounced or testified in the oceanic country.
“Generally, anyone can file a complaint. However, for the incident to be investigated, the victim would have to present formal testimony.“They told EFE today from the New South Wales Police, whose capital is Sydney, where the match was held.
They also told EFE that “no complaint has been filed” about Rubiales’ kiss to Hermoso, who could also file it in person or virtually.
In recent days, some journalists and users of social networks in Australia questioned why the authorities have not launched an investigation into what happened, despite having taken place there and the legal framework for it.
“The aggression happened in Australia. Why didn’t the Australian Police bring charges against Rubiales?“, asked the former reporter of the public channel ABC Michaela Boland in her X (Twitter) account, in line with what was expressed by other users.
Australia includes in its legislation the concept of affirmative consent, which implies the clear consent of both parties to have any type of sexual relations..
If in such a case it is determined that it was a non-consensual kiss, it could be considered an offense classified as “indecent assault”, punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison in Australia.
However, the possibility of the investigation prospering was considered “remote” today by Karen O’Connell, an expert in Law in the area of gender discrimination, as the soccer player had already left the country.
Some Australian athletes and commentators have positioned themselves in favor of Hermoso, such as the national team players Sam Kerr and Setph Catley, who have joined in republishing the comments on X (Twitter) of the Spanish footballer.
For his part, former Australian soccer player Craig Foster stressed that Rubiales’ act reveals “a much bigger problem” that requires women to lead a change from positions of power in soccer culture, according to an opinion piece published yesterday in Mammamia.
Foster also criticized the silence of most of the players of the Spanish men’s team: “If they refused to play, the case would be closed immediately (…) Even so, they remain overwhelmingly silent,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the Australian former Olympic athlete Jana Pittman, who participated in the 2000 Games, was encouraged after what happened to reveal last night on ABC that she received “an inappropriate kiss from a coach, not mine, an international coach in what was something normal in that environment.
For her part, the journalist Annabel Crabb today published an analysis on the ABC network entitled “How an unwanted kiss in Sydney caused a revolution in Spanish football”, in which she considers that Hermoso is at a crossroads.
“If you don’t report (an incident like this), you feel guilty for not standing up for yourself or failing to protect other women, and if you do, you risk being labeled a woman who hates men.”Crabb said.