Rio de Janeiro -
Female sports journalists in Brazil have been campaigning for months to stop the sexism and harassment they experience while practicing their profession, but the incidents during the World Cup in Russia have drawn attention to their movement #DeixaElaTrabalhar (#LetHerWork).
The campaign is part of efforts by women around the world to expose the sexual harassment and assaults they experience in their daily lives, especially through the famous #MeToo movement.
Just as it happened with women in Hollywood and the Academy, sports journalists are emphasizing the difficulties of working in a world that has traditionally been considered male-dominated.
They say that for years, they have been groped, kissed, and insulted when covering games and press conferences. In newsrooms, they faced skepticism that a woman can effectively report on sports.
A few of them started a WhatsApp group to share their stories, and as it grew, so did the feeling that they had to do something more public about it.
Last March, several journalists published a video on the internet with a hashtag that was a call to action: #DeixaElaTrabalhar. They also began working with the police and the prosecutor's office to ensure compliance with Brazilian laws against defamation and public insult in the country's stadiums.
Some reporters described how fans repeatedly shouted insults like "prostitute" from the stands during entire matches, while authorities did nothing about it. When racist slurs are used, for example, other fans and the police seem more prepared to act, said Gabriela Moreira, one of the journalists featured in the video.
"Racism is something that has been talked about a lot. In the case of women, not so much," said Moreira, who works for ESPN.
The video starts with a montage of headlines about harassed or threatened journalists and screenshots of insults posted by social media users about them.
"This has happened to me," says one reporter, and then the image of a fan approaching her to kiss her is shown.
"This has happened to all of us," says another.
"And it can't happen again," adds a third.
But it continues to happen. During the World Cup in Russia, there have been at least four recorded incidents in which fans touched, kissed, or attempted to kiss journalists.
In one of them, a man shouted a Russian insult at Ahtziri Cárdenas while she was working on a report for Univisión. Moments later, he came back and tried to grab her genitals.
A video posted on the internet about another incident, this time starring Brazilian journalist Julia Guimaraes, drew special attention for her strong reaction.
After a man tried to approach her and kiss her while she was preparing for a live connection with SporTV, Guimaraes told him in English: "This is not polite. This is not right. Never do this again. Never do this to a woman, okay?". In the background, the man can be heard apologizing, out of frame.
Guimaraes wrote on Twitter that the incident was "sad" and "shameful." The reporter declined to comment further.
Aline Nastari, who also appears in the #DeixaElaTrabalhar video, previously said that women feel alone when these kinds of things happen to them. She recalled crying alone after an incident and said she kept another one a secret because she felt ashamed.
Nastari believes that Guimaraes felt empowered to call attention to her harasser after participating in the campaign.
"From the moment you make it public and feel that we are together, that there are many people experiencing the same thing as you, you feel supported to fight for something," said Nastari, who works for the Brazilian broadcaster Esporte Interativo. "#DeixaElaTrabalhar symbolizes this. This is a moment when we are all together, all united." (D)