Luis Rubiales could face a prison sentence of two and a half years if convicted of kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips against her will, court documents have shown. The former Spanish football federation chief has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one of coercion in the aftermath of the kiss, offences carrying jail terms of one year and 18 months respectively.
The 46-year-old grabbed Hermoso and kissed her on the lips on 20 August during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, sparking global outrage and causing a national debate in Spain about sexism. Hermoso and her teammates said the kiss was unwanted and demeaning, but Rubiales argued it was consensual and denied any wrongdoing.
I’ve spent a lot of time in West Hollywood with my gay friends. I’ve had that exact thing happen. Was I cool with it? Not exactly, but I also understand it’s different for women vs men because of both the power difference and the consistency. Do I think it warranted 30 months in jail? Jesus fuck, no. Do I think it deserved 1 month in jail? Again, no. A night in jail to think about what you’ve done plus a public apology so other men start seeing that it’s not OK? That’s starting to sound right.
Again, I understand it is different when this happens to women vs men, but I’ve had women in clothing stores walk by and grab my ass. That’s much worse than this case, but I don’t think that deserves a month in jail, let alone 30.
Now, the part where he tried to coerce her into saying it was welcomed and she was fine with it, that’s where the real punishment should come from.
@dogslayeggs
According to the article the potential maximum punishment for coercion is one and a half times the potential maximum punishment for sexual assault.
They arrived at the 30 month figure by adding the two together. Given that ratio and the circumstances, I think it’s likely that the bulk of whatever sentence he does receive will be drawn from the coercion charge.