(Warning: Video contains profanity)
YEKATERINBURG, Russia – A Brazilian sports journalist was praised for her reaction towards a man who tried to kiss her while she was reporting from the World Cup.
Júlia Guimarães was reporting from Yekaterinburg on Sunday when a man leaned in to kiss her on the cheek as she was speaking to the camera.
As the man backed away, the TV Globo and SportTV journalist stopped her report and rebuked the man, who quickly backed away.
“Don’t do this! Never do this again,” she shouted at the man, who can be heard apologizing in the clip. “Don’t do this, I don’t allow you to do this, never, OK? This is not polite, this is not right.”
“Never do this to a woman, OK? Respect.”
Writing on Twitter, Guimarães said: “It’s hard to find the words … Luckily, I have never experienced this in Brazil. Over here it has happened twice. Sad! Shameful!”
“It’s horrible. I feel helpless and vulnerable,” she told Globo Esporte. “This time I responded but it’s sad people don’t understand why people feel they have the right to do that.
Guimarães said she was also harassed during the opening game of the World Cup between Russia and Egypt in Moscow.
She added that she had encountered numerous problems with unwanted attention in Russia, ranging from aggressive looks to offensive songs.
Her reaction was applauded by colleagues and the general public.
Sports journalist Paolo Antunes wrote on Twitter: “The guy is a total jerk. An idiot with the mind of a 13 year old boy, but Júlia Guimarães was great in her reaction.”
Luciana Boiteux, who works at the University of Río de Janeiro, added: “All my solidarity with reporter Júlia Guimarães, harassed live on SportTV, while she was covering the World Cup. After dodging the kiss, Julia warned: ‘I don’t allow you to do that to me. Never do that to a woman. Respect!’ The fight against harassment is of all of us!”
Leiticia Arsenio also backed Guimarães, writing: “Here’s a reinforcement of the message to RESPECT WOMEN and congratulations for the way she handled the situation.”
The incident took place just over a week after Colombian reporter Julieth González Therán was sexually assaulted while reporting from the Russian city of Saransk.
Therán was talking on camera when the man grabbed her breast and kissed her cheek.
She maintained her composure and finished her report before sharing her story on social media.
“I had been at the scene for two hours to prepare for the broadcast and there had been no interruptions,” she told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
“When we went live, this fan took advantage of the situation. But afterward, when I checked to see if he was still there, he was gone.”
After posting the video on her Instagram account, González Therán called for more respect for female journalists.
“We do not deserve this treatment. We are equally as professional and deserving. I share the joy of football but we must identify the limits between affection and harassment,” she wrote.
