"I hope you get raped": a socialist councilwoman from Badajoz denounces a sexist threat on social media

The socialist councilwoman Concha Baños, a councilor of the Badajoz City Council, has filed a complaint after receiving a sexist threat of extreme violence on social media. The message arrived after she published a video in which she denounced the use of homophobia to justify racist speeches.

The attack included a direct sexual threat. “I hope you get raped like many women,” the comment said, which also attacked her political positions and the arrival of migrant population. Baños took a screenshot of the message before Facebook deleted it and went to the duty court after identifying the author.

The councilwoman explained that this episode is not isolated and that insults have been repeated since she entered politics. “We have to say enough with all the means at our disposal. We cannot accept that the price of participating in politics or in public spaces is to live intimidated,” she said on her networks.

The PSOE calls for an unequivocal condemnation

The PSOE of Badajoz has strongly condemned the threats and has expressed its full support for the councilwoman. The socialist spokesperson and local general secretary, Silvia González, has defended that “freedom of expression and political criticism are fully legitimate, but threats and hatred never are.”

González has demanded a firm response to a climate in which digital violence tries to dictate who can speak and who should remain silent. “We cannot allow behaviors that seek to intimidate and expel from public life those who think differently to be normalized. In a democracy, not everything goes,” she warned.

The Feminist Association LIS has also supported Baños and has focused on the need to report these attacks so that they do not go unpunished. The collective has valued the councilwoman's “courage” and has summarized its position with a clear message: “Not one aggression without a response.”

The complaint is now in the hands of Justice and the Security Forces and Bodies, which must clarify the authorship and responsibilities that may arise from the message. The local PSOE has asked all political forces to condemn this type of threat without looking at the initials of the person attacked.