Life as a female football referee

Lima, Peru

A ROUGH tackle, the whistle blows and a foul is given. "Get back in the kitchen!" the player yells at the referee.

It's one of the kinder things male players have said to Melany Bermejo, one of the rare women referees in the macho world of Latin American football. Shoved, spat at, insulted, and flirted with on the field, she and a handful of other women are nevertheless close to the top of their profession in men's football games.

"You have to make double the effort a man makes,…