MOSCOW: A female reporter who was sexually harassed on air covering the FIFA World Cup 2018 has now spoken out about harassment by sports fans, BBC reported. Colombian correspondent Julieth Gonzalez Theran was working for Deutsche Welle (DW) news agency in Moscow when a man grabbed her and kissed her cheek. She went on to wrap up her report without interruption, however, she has since addressed the incident online. “We do not deserve this treatment,” Theran said.”We are equally valuable and professional.” She told her employer, DW, she had been on the scene for two hours preparing for the broadcast. “When we went live, this fan took advantage of the situation,” she said. “But afterwards, when I checked to see if he was still there, he was gone,” the reporter added. The incident happened last week in the city of Saransk ahead of the Russia-Saudi Arabia game. DW posted posted the footage on social media, calling it an “attack” and “blatant harassment”. Many online commentators, however, downplayed the incident. One labelled the criticism as “feminist hysteria”, and others suggested the kiss should be seen as a “welcome” or a “compliment”. Theran continued to speak out about her treatment on Twitter, retweeting messages of support from her colleagues. “This is not funny,” DW presenter Cristina Cubas tweeted. “It’s not a kiss. It’s a non-consenting attack.” On Wednesday, almost a week after the incident happened, DW published an article about the controversy, in which Germany’s first female national league referee branded the behaviour “unacceptable”. “For me it is an isolated incident,” Theran said. “There are always fans that compliment you and behave respectfully. This one went too far.”
Published in Daily Times, June 23rd 2018.
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