Marion Reimers accuses the campaign against her: “I was the victim of harassment”

Marion Reimers’ Speech on Online Harassment Against Women in Sports Journalism

On International Women’s Day, the renowned sports journalist Marion Reimers delivered a speech in support of the movement, which has been celebrated on March 8 every year by the United Nations. During her speech, Reimers acknowledged that there has been a campaign against her since she appeared in the media, especially since her arrival at TNT Sports.

Reimers reiterated from the podiums of the United Nations that “online bullying” is a constant on social media in Mexico. Furthermore, she pointed out that when a person is raped, it usually occurs in private due to the use of cell phones, and no one knows what the victim is going through.

“I have been a victim of online harassment for a long time. There are paid campaigns against me, and I am not the only woman who suffers from it in Mexico and the world. Social media is a very lonely place. There is no place more intimate than your phone, is there? And yet, it probably doesn’t depend on how well your security works. You wake up and see the phone, and when you go to bed, you see it too. The problem is that it seems like no one knows what’s happening to you because the only one who reads the harassment is probably you,” she added.

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), 36.7% of women were victims of cyberbullying in 2022. Therefore, Reimers expressed her feelings about constant network attacks that go beyond simply expressing one’s likes or dislikes regarding their work.

“If I had to define it, I would say it’s like dying from a thousand stab wounds. You catch up very quickly. You have to understand that it’s not just someone telling you that you’re bad at your job. It’s causing people to have suicidal thoughts. It’s causing people to self-censor,” she said.

As an ambassador of the United Nations Goodwill, Reimers also presented some statistics regarding the role of women in sports journalism, regardless of their position as reporters, analysts, narrators, or hosts.

“When you take into account that 75% of female journalists have experienced digital harassment, this is directly related to how issues are discussed in the public sphere and how democracies are understood, how the voice of women is taken into account,” she concluded.

Since her arrival in the mass media, Reimers has become a symbol of the feminist movement in Mexico. Within the sports screens, she left a legacy for future generations. In 2019, she became the first woman to commentate on a Champions League game. Moreover, she has covered the Olympics, Pan American Games, Copa América, and World Cups, making her an authoritative voice in the field of sports.

Additionally, Reimers was one of the key figures in promoting Liga MX Femenil in the media. The channel where she works holds the television rights to broadcast a large number of matches of the women’s professional championship, including the championship final.

Furthermore, she is a crucial feminist figure in the field of sports journalism. She is the founder of the NGO Versus México, whose objective is to promote debates on gender, class, and racial stereotypes that are reproduced in the Mexican media and thereby improve content and promote social awareness.