When women in health say #EnoughisEnough
26 October 2023
By Elena Marbán Castro, Thaïs González Capella and Blanca Paniello
The joy of Spain’s team winning the FIFA Women’s Football World Club was quickly tainted when Luis Rubiales, the President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), forced an unsolicited kiss on a female football player, Jennifer Hermoso. We watched in shock as the moment was broadcast live all over the world. Despite this, astonishingly, the Board of the RFEF, claimed they did not believe Jenni. In the weeks that followed, the RFEF continued blaming the victim and protecting the abuser, on multiple occasions and in official communications. Nonetheless, Spanish society reacted with fury.
Women in Global Health Spain decided it was the right time to launch an initiative inviting women in the healthcare and academic sectors to anonymously share their experiences. Inspired by Jenni, a group of global health researchers, members of WGH Spain joined forces to denounce these behaviors in our sectors, emulating Jenni’s statement and now famous hashtag #SeAcabo (#EnoughisEnough).
Our group initiated the collection of testimonies.The first thing we did was launch an online anonymous survey, through our social media, for women in Spain working in academia or the healthcare sector. We asked them to share their stories with us, confidentially. From August 29 to September 11 we received 345 personal stories shedding light on sexism and sexual harassment. This was clear proof that hundreds of women have and continue to experience similar situations in the healthcare and research sectors in Spain and that they are willing to raise their voices, when provided a safe space. The testimonies highlight a systemic problem, where power exercised through verbal and sexual abuse, such as physical harassment and sexual innuendos, becomes normalized, particularly affecting the most vulnerable women. The study reveals that 73.6% of the respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment, and 28.7% sexual abuse.The consequences go beyond immediate harm: 34.5% of the victims report lasting psychological effects.
Our initiative got media coverage internationally. One of our members, Profesor Helena Legido Quigley, was invited to a radio programme to report preliminary results. Our study was also covered in The Guardian.
After all this, we published an article in The Lancet Regional Health Europe reporting on these stories. Additionally, we submitted a protocol to ethical approval to conduct a qualitative study to interview women that experienced sexual abuse or harassment in the healthcare sector or academia.
As an indirect outcome of these studies, we enrolled new members in our working group and in our Chapter and are eager to keep growing and provide more data-driven evidence on violence against women.
Women are saying #EnoughisEnough and meaning it. Join us.
