Women lose landmark challenge to sexual abuse in Spanish meat industry

Two workers in an abattoir in Catalonia alleged to have suffered unwanted sexual advances and are now appealing court decision

A court in Spain has acquitted a manager accused of sexual advances and using the threat of dismissal to demand sex, in a blow to a landmark legal challenge that sought to cast a spotlight on sexual abuse in the country’s meat processing industry.

The behaviour was alleged to have taken place at an abattoir north of Barcelona, a region that has helped transform Spain into Europe’s largest pork producer.