Spain riled by abusive chants targeting female students

The backlash over male students at a Madrid university shouting obscenities at female students continued spreading Friday in a sign of the widespread consensus in Spain over gender-based violence.

In a 30-second video clip filmed at night, a male voice can be heard screaming: “Bitches, come out of your rabbit holes: you’re nymphomaniac whores! I promise you’re all going to get fucked at the next bullfighting party!”

Then in a clearly-coordinated move, the blinds in at least 40 rooms in the male dorms are simultaneously raised, with the students — three or four in each window — cheering, making animal noises and shouting insults.

The incident, which took place at a college linked to Madrid’s Complutense University, was plastered across the Spanish media, sparking a backlash.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his ministers expressed anger over the incident, lashing out at such “macho behaviour” and denouncing the trivialisation of “rape culture” that it represents.

And opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the right-wing Popular Party (PP), said it was “unacceptable”, suggesting that “instead of (the female students) leaving their rabbit holes, (the male students) should leave their caves”.

– Public consensus –

Madrid prosecutors wasted no time, saying Friday they had opened an inquiry into whether the “sexist chanting” constituted a crime against the “exercise of fundamental rights and public liberties”.

“The facts are very serious,” Justice Minister Pilar Llop told Catalonia Radio, describing it as “verbal gender violence”.

Aina Lopez Yanez, a Complutense University sociologist, said the reaction showed there was “a certain public consensus about the outrageous nature of this behaviour”.

But she also said the political anger may have been magnified by the fact that Spain is due to hold an election by the end of 2023 “with issues relating to male chauvinism, the culture of patriarchy, and rape culture being of interest to certain political groups” on the left.

Spain is considered a pioneer in the fight against violence against women since approving in 2004 Europe’s first law that made the victim’s gender an aggravating factor in cases of assault.

Friday also happened to be the day when new tougher laws against rape came into force in a move driven by Spain’s left-wing government following a notorious gang rape that outraged the country.

Known as “Only yes means yes”, the law now defines rape as sex without clear consent in a step taken by the government after the 2016 gang rape of a young woman.

Even the far-right Vox party, which is opposed to the law, spoke out against the student chanting scandal, although one of its leaders, Javier Ortega-Smith, qualified its position by saying the students did not appear bent on causing “injury or harm”.

– ‘A student tradition’ –

On campus, many students were at pains to play down the incident involving young men from Elias Ahuja college targeting abuse at their female counterparts living opposite in Santa Monica college.

In a statement on social media, Santa Monica residents said it was “a tradition between the colleges”, saying “none” of their male counterparts “intended to make misogynistic remarks and much less, to belittle us as women”.

But their argument held little water with the justice minister.

“These are traditions that, from our perspective, are outrageous and perpetuate inequality… unfit for the century in which we live,” she said.

Lopez Yanez said the reaction triggered by the incident showed a much greater awareness of the harsh realities of sexism, misogyny and gender violence.

“Society is becoming aware that this kind of behaviour is no joke because sexual harassment, discrimination against women, rape and death resulting from abuse by partners or ex-partners occur in real life,” she said.