Spain: Mass Catcalling by Male Students Goes Viral
A viral video of around 100 male students shouting sexist abuses in the direction of an all-female college in Spain has sparked massive outrage.
A viral video of around 100 male students shouting sexist abuses in the direction of an all-female college in Spain has sparked massive outrage around the world. The video, shared by a Spanish politician Rita Maestre on Twitter, showed a man from Elías Ahuja Hall of Residence (hostel) shouting abuses at the students in the neighbouring building. When he said a particular word “Go Ahuja”, roughly 40 windows opened all at once, revealing young students shouting sexist insults at female students. They called the women with several bad comments (whore / prostitute) and told them to come “out of your dens like rabbits”. The abuses were accompanied by roars of animal sounds and cheers by other students. Rita Maestre, condemned them in a tweet: “Then they will wonder why we are afraid of the street.”
However, soon after the video went viral, the university released a public statement on 5th October calling the behaviour “unacceptable, incomprehensible and inadmissible in society.” The college also said it would offer public apologies and ensure that the student attends mandatory gender equality classes. Reports state that the leader of the incident has been expelled. However, some female students residing in the girl’s hostel defended this act calling it a culture with no regards to women intimidation. They also said that the actual context should be understood before making any allegation on the male students. In fact, the more shocking claim behind their context is that this is a kind of ritual in the college and is known as the “Ritual of Machismo,”. The ritual is to showcase the masculinity of men and is also practised every year when the new college sessions begin. Imagine this level of hate and sexist verbal abuse against women, a culture of catcalling is being passed on to the newer generations as well, and this is just so scary.
However, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez heavily criticised the incident. "We should not take a step back in everything related to the real and effective equality between men and women. It’s especially painful to see the offenders are young people,". Spain’s Equality Minister, Irene Montero said the incident was there clearest proof of the need for education on sexual consent. Sexual education would help young people to learn about the culture of consent so that we can stop reinforcing the culture of rape and sexual terror that makes women into sexual objects.
Only in August this year, the Spanish government passed a “only yes means yes” bill, which ensures any sex that takes place without clear consent can now be prosecuted as rape. Spain toughened its rape laws following a brutal gang rape of an 18-year-old woman in 2016 by five men in Pamplona, Spain. The men, who were initially convicted of “sexual abuse” and not rape, had filmed the assault, during which the woman is shown silent–which the judges had interpreted as consent. In 2019, the Supreme Court of Spain overturned the verdict, convicting all five of rape and increasing their sentences from nine years to 15 years each. A practice like this in an educational institution where youngsters are supposed to learn and mould their thinking into a more progressive one is beyond anyone’s imagination. Spain made catcalling illegal in an attempt to protect women’s sexual rights in May 2022. These boys are facing even bigger repercussions. What do you think about this viral incident? Do mention your thoughts in the comment section below.
