Wanted: macho aggressor with scooter in Barcelona

The sexist aggression suffered by an editor of this newspaper could pass as one more chapter of the many that are recorded daily in the middle of the street. They are looking for a man in his thirties on an electric scooter, hooded and masked, with a license to humiliate women, in the surroundings of the Sant Antoni market. There may be more victims. That is why it is essential to air these situations. This Saturday, Samar Elansari will formalize the corresponding complaint at the Mossos d’Esquadra police station in Plaza d’Espanya.

Elansari, student of the University of Barcelona (UB) and a journalist intern at this newspaper, was attacked on Wednesday morning while walking from the Sant Antoni metro stop to the market where she had the objective of preparing a report for the Society section. EL PERIÓDICO publishes its version of events about the incident because it considers it news. Also because his testimony describes an aggressor used to acting as he did and because it happened in full view of many citizens who looked down at the asphalt.

Shouting

At around 10 a.m., waiting for a traffic light to change to cross Urgell Street, Elansari heard the shouts of a man traveling on an electric scooter in his direction. Of some 30 years old, with hood and mask. She heard them, understood that they were screams being directed at her, and tried to ignore them. Were pick up lines, like “pretty” and “hottie”. By not responding, the individual went from making compliments to profane comments such as “I fucked you” and dedicated a gesture with fingers and mouth who pretended to have oral sex. This gesture was humiliating for her, “especially because she had to bear it from a stranger in view of the rest of the citizens” who surrounded her and who said nothing. The reporter asked him to be quiet, and said that he was disgusted by what he said and what he did.

The aggressor did not react, understanding that he had exceeded himself. Quite the opposite. He was offended. He got off the scooter and approached her, shouting loudly to intimidate her with insults: “Whore, bitch or bitch & rdquor;. And he asked him a puzzling question as he lowered his mask, revealing his bearded face: “Who are you to answer me? & Rdquor;. He continued advancing towards her until his face was a foot from her face, ignoring what she begged for: “Leave me alone & rdquor ;. From that short distance, about 15 centimeters, the one with the scooter raised his hand above their heads threatening to slap her and ordered her to close her mouth: “Either you shut up, or you find out & rdquor;. Elansari turned and quickened her pace to flee the place in shame. The aggressor disappeared on his scooter without encountering any obstacles other than the traffic lights, which he did not respect.

Did any of the people who crossed the street attending the brawl do anything to intervene? Nobody. On sunny Urgell street, between Tamarit and Manso, in an hour of shopping, loading and unloading, cyclists and pedestrians ransacking, no one dared to do anything. They all looked the other way, probably because they did not know what was really happening. What experts call Collective Responsibility Evasion Syndrome. Only an 81-year-old woman came to his aid. “Easy, woman,” he told her. He comforted her by buying her a donut.

Anxiety Attack

The aggression of the scooter pimp caused the reporter an anxiety attack from which she recovered minutes later to encourage herself to carry out the report she was looking for on the Christmas basket in the Sant Antoni market. The tremendous shock did not leave him the rest of the day. The best relief, tell the mother and the boyfriend, and explain the event on Twitter. He seemed to settle for the echo in the networks until he saw how it grew by dozens. Women who encouraged him and explained that he had also suffered verbal attacks on the street at any time of the day. Others who gave him advice. Others, union solidarity, that of Montse Ros, from CCOO. This wave of messages led her to decide that the incident should be recorded in a complaint at a police station. An attempt, perhaps utopian, so that a soulless scooter does not act again in the Eixample and to encourage other victims to raise their voices and explain what one day they kept inside.

Here are two tweets expressing the idea that what happened to Samar Elansari on December 1, 2021 is repeated more often than you can imagine:

Exactly the same thing happened to me, but in La Latina, in Madrid, instead of being one there were two and they were not riding a scooter, but walking. Nobody did anything either. https://t.co/bPa5FCf2Cu

– Turbulence🍃 (@Sara__GS) December 2, 2021

A couple of weeks ago I made a tweet telling how a man had called me a fucking bitch for telling him that I did not care about his opinion about my physique. I had to put up with more gentlemen telling me that I was making it up. Every day. Everywhere. https://t.co/oGhfQdAKDn

– Carmen Matas (@Carmen_matas) December 2, 2021

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Samar Elansari will go to the Mossos d’Esquadra police station in Plaça d’Espanya at noon this Saturday to report the events. You hope that there may be previous reports that fit your description of the assailant. With this brave gesture, the time has come for the Eixample police patrols to come into action.