Wales’s national advisor on sexual violence has alleged that she was sexually harassed during Cardiff City’s Championship win over Swansea City on Saturday night.
Johanna Robinson said a man sitting behind her at the Cardiff City Stadium had touched and grabbed her repeatedly, including after she had asked him to stop.
She went on to chronicle the incident on social media, with Cardiff director Steve Borley responding by promising to “fully investigate the incident and include the police if appropriate”.
Robinson, whose official title is Wales’ National Adviser for Violence Against Women, Gender Based Violence, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, later told BBC Wales: “Almost as soon as I sat down the man behind me started tapping me, trying to talk in my ear and crouching over my shoulder.
“And then it just increased… the way he was touching me got stronger so it felt more like he was grabbing my shoulders, my arms, and my waist.”
She added: “He just kept doing it and doing it… it made me feel unsafe, he made me feel unsafe.
“He was in my physical space, he was touching me inappropriately – I didn’t know if he was going to go further with the touching but it didn’t really matter. I just didn’t like it.”
‘He tried to pursuade me to go for a drink’
She said the man responded angrily and looked at her in “disbelief” when she eventually turned around and asked him to stop and that he resumed doing so just before half-time and tried to persuade her to go for a drink with him.
“He tapped me on the shoulder again… and said to me very clearly that he hadn’t done anything, that he wasn’t a ‘monster man’,” she said.
“He was really forceful about that, that was his way of excusing it and moving on… that I should go for a drink with him because he wasn’t a monster man… it’s just ridiculous.”
She said she complained to stewards and asked to be moved to another seat, which she eventually was after being taken to a supervisor.
But she said the supervisor also admitted there was no formal process in place for such incidents and called for more resources to be provided to help protect fans from being harassed at games.
Declaring she had received “great support” from Cardiff since going public, she added: “We need to do things so that it isn’t down to the woman to do things to defend herself.
“I would encourage women to speak out, I would encourage them to go to the steward… but the responsibility is on the clubs.”
Responding to Robinson, the social media account of Cardiff’s supporter liaison officer posted on X: “Hi Johanna, we have processes in place for exactly this sort of situation. The help line number is +447484070422.
“We have to ensure everyone is aware of this and we will do more to to [sic] ensure this is the case. Please contact me and we will investigate this.”
