Spain showcases its gender justice

After three weeks of outcry and demands for his resignation, Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales finally put in his papers on Sunday. Rubiales, accused of reportedly non-consensually kissing World Cup-winning national team member Jenni Hermoso in full public view at the tournament ceremony last month, remained adamant that he had not done anything untoward. A lingering culture of public machismo may well indeed blind men like Rubiales from recognising their misbehaviour towards women they believe to be 'harmless fun'. Thankfully, Spain thought otherwise. Public pushback - from both men and women in Spain - forced Rubiales to step down. This is not 'woke' justice as Rubiales and some others may make it out to be. It is getting in line with what the rest of society clearly recognises as being out of line.

The protests against Rubiales were 360° - footballers (first the national women's team, then the men's), Fifa (which suspended him for 90 days), the public, politicians, and the Spanish football federation that ultimately asked him to step down. Regardless of his defence - that the kiss was not non-consensual - the purported action was too grave, the risk of damage to the reputation of Spanish football and, indeed, Spain too serious, for Rubiales to continue.

For a country with a 'mardangi' tradition like Spain, it is a key moment that will set inter-gender behavioural norms. A country must be judged by how it treats its women - and treats its men accused of misbehaving or worse against women. The case of outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh points to a society that is yet to treat gender justice seriously. And citing cultural relativism won't work. Not in Spain, not in India.