MADRID: Police in Spain have arrested a man for sexually assaulting a journalist while she was reporting live on air.
The journalist Isa Balado was reporting on a robbery on Tuesday in Madrid when a man approached her from behind and groped her before asking which channel she worked for.
Balado confronted him, explaining that she was working and tried to continue with her report, but host Nacho Abad insisted that she show the man’s face on camera.
However, even after his misdeed and unacceptable behaviour was caught live on camera, the man blatantly refused he did anything wrong. The man was totally unapologetic and was even seen putting up a grin.
He refused having done anything when confronted by the journalist. Later, as the live coverage continues, the man is seen in the background walking away.Police said that the man had been arrested for sexually assaulting a reporter.
The media group Mediaset Espana, which owns the channel Cuatro, issued a statement and said it “categorically repudiates any form of harassment or aggression”. “We fully support Isa Balado… after the absolutely intolerable situation she has suffered today.”
The incident garnered a lot of attention online, prompting internet users and government officials to condemn it.
Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz said, “It is machismo that makes journalists suffer sexual assaults like this, and the aggressors are unrepentant in front of the camera.”
The incident occurred as Spain is grappling with sexism after the former president of Spain’s football federation kissed a national team player on the lips after the Women’s World Cup final last month.
“Do you really have to touch my ass?”
Yesterday, journalist Isa Balado was in the middle of a live report in Madrid when a man approached her from behind & sexually assaulted her, grabbing her bottom
He was arrested soon after????#MeToo #TimesUp #SeAcabópic.twitter.com/fZaS1gXGmo https://t.co/eGr8EtwfXS
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) September 13, 2023
