Fran Rivera - Yuck Yuck Yuck!
Fran Rivera: Bullfighter sparks revenge porn row in Spain
A top Spanish bullfighter has drawn a fierce backlash for his comments on the case of a young woman who killed herself days after a sex video featuring her was widely shared.
The 32-year-old mother-of-two, named by Spanish media as Verónica Rubio, took her own life on Saturday.
It is being treated as a case of revenge porn - the non-consensual sharing of sexual images online.
Last week work colleagues had shared the video, reportedly recorded five years earlier, before she was married, by a former partner.
Spanish media report that she hanged herself the day after her husband saw the video.
"It's not manly to make a video like this go viral," the famous matador Fran Rivera, 45, told Espejo Público, a television programme, when asked about the case. "But men, and I say this because I'm a man, were unable to have such a video and not share it."
Although he also said that the deceased woman was "not to blame" his comments provoked immediate criticism.
"Sharing a video without permission is a crime," tweeted television presenter Cristina Pedroche. "Once again women are being blamed. Let's not focus on the woman who made the video, but on the man who shared it and on those who didn't denounce it."
The spokeswoman for the leftist Podemos party, Irene Montero, mocked the bullfighter's comment, tweeting: "We [women] have to be coy and careful how we behave, because a man can't see a video 'like this' and not share it. That's not naive idiocy, it's the kind of logic that blames women in order to hide sexism."
Actress Sara Sálamo tweeted: "How lucky that most of the men I interact with are not like you, Fran Rivera."
Reacting to the criticisms, the bullfighter later tweeted a clip of his TV interview, with the message: "Seeing reality is better than seeing manipulation".
The furore adds fuel to an intense political debate in Spain about harassment and violence targeting women.
The victim worked at a vehicle plant east of Madrid belonging to Iveco. The in-house representative body for staff there said: "We are still in shock and are overwhelmed by grief and outrage. We all know that this should not have happened."The 32-year-old mother-of-two, named by Spanish media as Verónica Rubio, took her own life on Saturday.
It is being treated as a case of revenge porn - the non-consensual sharing of sexual images online.
Last week work colleagues had shared the video, reportedly recorded five years earlier, before she was married, by a former partner.
Spanish media report that she hanged herself the day after her husband saw the video.
"It's not manly to make a video like this go viral," the famous matador Fran Rivera, 45, told Espejo Público, a television programme, when asked about the case. "But men, and I say this because I'm a man, were unable to have such a video and not share it."
Although he also said that the deceased woman was "not to blame" his comments provoked immediate criticism.
"Sharing a video without permission is a crime," tweeted television presenter Cristina Pedroche. "Once again women are being blamed. Let's not focus on the woman who made the video, but on the man who shared it and on those who didn't denounce it."
The spokeswoman for the leftist Podemos party, Irene Montero, mocked the bullfighter's comment, tweeting: "We [women] have to be coy and careful how we behave, because a man can't see a video 'like this' and not share it. That's not naive idiocy, it's the kind of logic that blames women in order to hide sexism."
Actress Sara Sálamo tweeted: "How lucky that most of the men I interact with are not like you, Fran Rivera."
Reacting to the criticisms, the bullfighter later tweeted a clip of his TV interview, with the message: "Seeing reality is better than seeing manipulation".
The furore adds fuel to an intense political debate in Spain about harassment and violence targeting women.
The video started circulating on 20 May and by the middle of the week the attention and ridicule the victim was receiving from colleagues, hundreds of whom had seen it, were causing her severe anguish.
She reportedly left work early on 24 May to recover and her body was discovered at her home in Alcalá de Henares the next day. She left behind two small children.
Spanish media say police are investigating a male employee at the plant who previously had a relationship with the victim. Nobody has been charged over the case so far.
The Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) labour union, which represents workers at the plant, said the victim had complained to her employers, on the Thursday before her death, about the video and the male colleague who had allegedly shared it via WhatsApp.
Soledad Murillo, Spain's Secretary of State for Equality, described this as a case of gender violence.
"Sexism is about power relations," she said. "Who are you to have an image that does not belong to you and to make her the focus of a scandal?"
In a comparable case in Italy, 31-year-old Tiziana Cantone killed herself in 2016, more than a year after sex videos in which she featured had gone viral.
Spanish law on such cases - often described as "revenge porn" - was tightened in 2015, following the case of Olvido Hormigos, a local politician from Toledo, who made a sex video which went viral after her lover shared it.
Now, anyone who makes public content of a sexual nature without the consent of those involved can face a jail sentence of between three and 12 months or a fine.
Feminists and other groups have staged mass protests in Spain against the sexist attitudes blamed for gender violence.
In a notorious case, five men known as La Manada ("the wolf pack") were found guilty of sexually abusing a young woman in Pamplona in 2016. Although they were each sentenced to nine years in prison, the five had rape charges dropped, drawing widespread anger and women's protests.
The sentences are currently under review in the supreme court.
Comments
I don´t know why people, like Mr. Rivera, a bullfighter, can have influence in the Spanish media. I have never seen him in my life. He can talk about bullfighting, about cows, bulls, cowbell, potatoes and grass. However, with all due respect, he can´t talk about relationship between men and women and less about an event what can be crime. This country is crazy. The media and Spanish journalists have only sought publicity and they know that if a famous man says tumultuous drivel they will sell more front pages and more telly time. Yuck!
A lawyer, a doctor, a psychologist and a judge can speak about the consent of sexual images, reportedly recorded, blame, gender violence, suicide, harassment and so on, but a bullfighter no. He can´t talk about it. It can´t be. If Spanish society shows opinions from ignorant people, it´s very difficult that Spanish Society improves. If the Spanish media showed the best to people, especially children, they would learn it and would behave imitating the example.
He said: “But men, and I say this because I´m a man, were unable to have such a video and not share it”. Yuck. No. Men are able to not share a video of another people and of a woman. Men are able to not share offensive video. Men are able to don´t do crimes. This man is not a normal man. He is sick and stupid man. The most annoying is that he will be glad because everyone speaks about him.
See you.
This week I agree with most of what you say. Wonders will never cease.
He will enjoy being talked about because of his "manly" comments but there are other things he would most certainly prefer not to see the light of day.
I can't bear the sight of him. He may flash his smile (yuck!) but he doesn't fool me.
... However, with all due respect, he can´t talk about relationships between men and women and about an event which could be a crime. This country is crazy. The media and Spanish journalists have only sought publicity and they know that if a famous man talks tumultuous drivel they will sell more front pages and more telly time. Yuck!
A lawyer, a doctor, a psychologist and a judge can speak about the consent of sexual images, reportedly recorded (??), blame, gender violence, suicide, harassment and so on, but a bullfighter no. He can´t talk about it. It is not right. If Spanish society shows opinions from ignorant people, it´s very difficult for Spanish Society to improve. If the Spanish media showed the best to people, especially children, and would behave imitating the example.
He said: “But men, and I say this because I´m a man, were unable to have such a video and not share it”. Yuck. No. Men are able to not share a video of and of a woman. Men are able to not share offensive videos. Men are able to not commit crimes. This man is not a normal man. He is a sick and stupid man. The most annoying thing is that he will be glad because everyone is speaking about him.