A video footage of an incident from Spain wherein a group of male university students are seen howling sexist insults at their female counterparts in the neighbouring block have drawn massive outrage, with many government figures, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, condemning the behaviour.
The video clip of the incident, shot at the Elías Ahuja Hall of residence in Spain’s capital Madrid, shows one student hurling abuses at women at the Santa Mónica hall and telling them to come “out of your dens like rabbits”. Towards the end of his statement, many other male students are seen opening their window shutters in unison and joining in as they cheered and let out loud roars.
Taking to Twitter, Sanchez said that such behaviour that generate “hatred and attack women” cannot be tolerated. “Enough of machismo,” his post on the micro-blogging site added.
Echoing the prime minister’s “machismo” message, the country’s equality minister said the incident was the clearest proof” of the need for education on sexual consent.
Sharing the footage on Twitter, Spanish politician Rita Maestre shared the video footage on Twitter, and said, “Then they will wonder why we are afraid of the street”.
Meanwhile, the university authorities have called out the incident and labelled it as “unacceptable”.
In an Instagram post, Elías Ahuja stated that it condemns the male students’ demonstrations, and considers them “incomprehensible and inadmissible in society, both in form and substance. In addition to being totally contrary to the ideology and values of the center”.
University authorities said those involved in the incident could face expulsion. They also laid down several measures lest this incident happens again, which includes mandatory participation of students in courses to “raise awareness of gender equality”.
Additionally, a spokesperson for the Hall told Spanish daily El País that the authorities had met to discuss expelling the alleged ringleader. He added that the student in question would be the first to be given an opportunity to explain his shocking behaviour, The Guardian reported.
