Paula Lema, the referee who stopped a match due to sexist harassment, receives the support of Pau Gasol: “Unacceptable”

2023-11-03 14:57:48

Updated Friday, November 3, 2023 – 13:57

A spectator repeatedly insulted her while she was refereeing a match with violent and sexist comments, such as “whore” or “go clean up.”

Paula Lema and, in the background, the individual who insulted her. VIDEO CAPTURE

The Galician referee who suspended a match Women’s League basketball for sexist harassment, Paula Lemahas defended that she hopes that her decision “means another step so that no woman has to suffer any type of violence again in any area of ​​life.”

Lema had to stop the game Bembibre-Girona last weekend due to the attitude of a spectator, who repeatedly insulted her with violent and sexist comments, such as “whore” or “go clean”, until it was impossible to continue with the meeting. The local team has banned him from re-entering the pavilion for life.

After these events, in a statement, he thanked the federations and the referees’ association “for their support and their willingness to address and condemn these acts”, in addition to thanking them for the support of their colleagues, as well as those around them. his family.

The basketball world has turned to Paula. Both the federation and many players have wanted to express their indignation over what happened on social media. Even the most emblematic player of Spanish basketball, Pau Gasolhas condemned the event.

Motto requested not to continue with his media exposure while the legal channels that this situation follows are developed.

“I hope it means another step so that no woman has to suffer any type of violence in any area of ​​life again,” she expressed.

In his opinion, “we must not silence the occasions” in which the referee teams are “exposed to insults and humiliation” and he has claimed “let them not go unpunished”.

“The fact that these comments are sexist, sexist or racist is an aggravation of the attacks we suffer,” he concluded.

The Bembibre Basketball Club has condemned in a statement “not only the expressions uttered during this match, but all types of sexist or sexist expressions that threaten the moral integrity of women or any person, in this specific case, against the referee of the game”