Spain's police force sent out a series of tweets on Valentine’s Day with topics ranging from sexting, homophobia, to violence against women.
One such message was “If someone 'steals' a kiss from you, it's not a crime. Happy Valentine's Day,” the police wrote on Sunday, followed by a kiss emoji.
Si te "roba" un beso no es delito. Feliz #SanValentín 💋
— Policía Nacional (@policia) February 14, 2016
This message was however, interpreted by followers as endorsing sexual harassment, rather than denouncing it.
Although the message was liked more than 2,000 times, many who were blinded to the police’s try at humor by their outrage demanded the police to later explain what they meant.
“This joke should be illegal for advocacy of a crime,” wrote user José Gallardo.
@Luiserasman @policia Este chiste debería ser ilegal por apología de un delito.
— José Gallardo (@josegallardoweb) February 14, 2016
Even political party Izquierda Unida (United Left) joined in on the discussion of the tweet.
“If someone steals a kiss from you, that is sexual harassment and you should act, not encourage it,” United Left wrote.
Si te roba un beso es acoso sexual y debéis actuar, no incitar. @policia
— Izquierda Unida (@iunida) February 14, 2016
Such criticism forced the police to respond to their first tweet saying, “If YOUR love 'steals' a kiss by surprise, enjoy it! If someone steals a kiss without consent, #report it.”
Si TU amor te "roba" un beso por sorpresa ➡ ¡Disfrútalo!
— Policía Nacional (@policia) February 14, 2016
Si alguien te roba un beso sin consentimiento ➡ #Denuncia
But people found this message somehow provocative too and they pointed out that the new message seemed to indicate that someone's "love" could do whatever they wanted.
“Man, this kills me. Or that if 'your love' can do whatever they want, without thinking about what you want. Tremendous.”
@SrJimvill @policia hombre, me quedo muerta. O sea que si es "tu amor" puede hacer lo que quiera, sin pensar si tú quieres o no. Tremendo.
— Ruth García (@fromhelldj) February 14, 2016
Such response may have generated due to the fact that violence against women is a major topic of discussion in Spain as the country has fought to combat its ‘machista’ reputation.
“Last year, 56 women were killed in Spain because of domestic violence. Over one million cases of domestic violence have been dealt with by the Spanish courts since 2007 and judges have handed down jail sentences to 148,000 men,” Spanish online publication The Local wrote.
