Easy News: Consent back in the headlines

Two big stories about men doing things to women without their consent have been in the news recently. Consent means to give permission.

The 1st thing happened at the FIFA Women's World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand in July and August.

The England women’s team made it to the finals against Spain which took place on 20th August. Spain won the game. Spain scored 1 goal and England scored 0.

Spain's women's team has never won the World Cup before. They were all very happy to have won and people were partying on the pitch.

During the celebration, Luis Rubiales hugged a player called Jenni Hermoso and kissed her on the lips. Luis Rubiales was the president of the Spanish Football Federation and is the vice president of The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

Jenni Hermoso was upset that Luis Rubiales kissed her. Jenni Hermoso said that Luis Rubiales kissed her without her consent. This means that he did not ask her first if she wanted to be kissed.

Consent is important. People can feel sad or scared if they are made to do things or someone touches them without their consent.

On 25th August, Luis Rubiales said that Jenni Hermoso did consent to the kiss and that he would stay on as President. Lots of people were not happy about this

But FIFA suspended Luis Rubiales because they thought what Luis did was wrong. When someone is suspended, it means they are stopped from doing their job for a while.

The Spanish women's football team then went on strike. A strike is where people stop working at their job because they are not happy.

The team were striking because of the kiss, and also other things as well. They are paid a lot less money than the men's team, and they do not get as much help.

On the 10th of September Luis Rubiales resigned. This means he left his job as president of the Spanish Football Federation. Luis did not say that he was sorry or admit that he did anything wrong.

On Friday 15th September, Luis Rubiales went to court on charges of sexual assault. He was given a restraining order at the Spanish High Court. This means he is legally banned from going within 200 meters of Jenni Hermoso.

The 2nd story about consent in the news is about the comedian and TV presenter, Russell Brand.

4 women say that they were sexually assaulted or raped by him between 2006 and 2013. They shared their stories as part of an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme and the Sunday Times newspaper, which was shown on TV on Sunday 17th September.

Sexual assault is when someone touches someone else in a sexual way without their consent. It includes unwanted kissing. Rape is when someone has sex with someone else by putting their penis inside their vagina, anus or mouth without their consent.

Russell Brand says he did not do anything to the women without their consent.

Since the programme was shown, 1 more woman has gone to the police and said he sexually assaulted her too. The police will have to investigate to find out if it is true.

The last 3 dates of Russell Brand’s comedy tour, called Bipolarisation, have been cancelled or postponed because of what the women have said.

You can find more information about sexual consent in this easy read guide from Somerset & Avon Rape & Sexual Abuse Support.

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