The UN has condemned what it called “unacceptable” sexual harassment against women at the World Cup after several female reporters were assaulted on live television during the ongoing Mundial in Russia.
A statement from the UN Women’s Office said, “It is unacceptable the deliberate intention of some Brazilian fans to sexually harass women during the World Cup, using embarrassment, deception, and thus violating the human rights of women”. It said that, “With low slang words, they reduced women to sexual objects in the demonstration of how misogyny, which even underlies the culture of rape, takes different forms and has no borders, occurring in an event that aims to promote the integration of peoples and feelings of a union for sport. To Russian women and women of all nationalities, UN Women Brazil expresses its solidarity.”
On Sunday while Sport TV journalist, Julia Guimarães, reported on the Senegal-Japan game, a man tried to kiss her on the cheek; however, she was able to duck. In response, she angrily addressed her assaulter, while her microphone was cut. “It’s hard to find words. … Luckily, I never lived in Brazil! It’s happened twice already. Sad! Shameful!” Guimarães tweeted in Portuguese.
Last week, Colombian journalist, Julieth Theran, of Moscow’s DW Espanol was giving an on-air report in the city of Saransk before the Russia-Saudi Arabia match when a man approached her, grabbed her chest, and kissed her on the cheek. The UN has urged Russian authorities to do more to protect the rights of women journalists at the World Cup.
