Female reporter kissed without her permission during live World Cup broadcast

A female sport reporter was groped and kissed on live television while reporting on the World Cup in Russia.

Julieth Gonzalez Theran, a reporter for German TV news channel Deutsche Well, was broadcasting at the city of Saransk when a man came up to her, grabbed her roughly and kissed her on the cheek.

Theran continued reporting, but later posted a video of the incident on her Instagram page with the caption:

We do not deserve this treatment. We are equally as professional and deserving.

I share the joy of football, but we must identify the line between affection and harassment.

The man has not yet been identified.

She later told DW:

I had been at the scene for two hours to prepare for the broadcast and there had been no interruptions. When we went live, this fan took advantage of the situation. But afterwards, when I checked to see if he was still there, he was gone.

Theran isn’t the only female sports journalist to have been harassed on air. In March, Brazil’s female sports journalists began a campaign called #DeixaElaTrabalhar, translated to ‘Let her do her job’ in response to being kissed, insulted and groped.

One Instagram user wrote:

That’s NOT ok!!! A guy can’t walk up to someone he doesn’t know and kiss and grope her. He took advantage of her being on TV. He should go to jail. Just because she is a beautiful reporter doesn’t give him the right to do what he did.

But not everyone thought of the unwanted sexual contact as harassment…

Another said:

Please stop calling this an attack. Were you injured? Were you mentally damaged? Scared? Maybe this was a slight annoyance from a drunk fan but FAR from a sexual assault. Stop letting your power as a woman go to your head. Life goes on. Poor guy.....

Most were clear on what it was.

This commenter supported Theran's message:

Guys who defend this scumbag must be overly aggressive towards other women. You didn’t deserve this Julieth, but you showed just how strong of a woman you are by not letting his sexual assault affect you. Keep doing what you’re doing and I hope that pervert gets caught and arrested.

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