Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has stated the harassment she suffered when a drunk man groped her on the street is an assault on all girls.
A video posted on social media exhibits a person coming as much as her when she is chatting with supporters close to the Nationwide Palace within the capital, Mexico Metropolis. He approaches her from behind, leans in to kiss her and seems to place his arms on her.
Ms Sheinbaum used her day by day press briefing on Wednesday to say she had pressed fees in opposition to the person.
Mexico Metropolis mayor Clara Brugada had introduced in a single day that the person had been arrested.
When Ms Sheinbaum was elected, she stated that it wasn’t simply her coming to energy – it was all girls.
“If this is done to the president, what is going to happen to all of the young women in our country?” she stated on Wednesday.
Ms Sheinbaum additionally referred to as on states to scrutinise their legal guidelines and procedures to make it simpler for ladies to report such assaults.
She stated Mexicans wanted to listen to a “loud and clear, no, women’s personal space must not be violated”.
The incident instantly raised questions concerning the president’s safety, however Ms Sheinbaum dismissed any suggestion she would improve it or alter how she interacts with individuals.
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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum. Pic: Reuters
Ms Sheinbaum additionally stated on Wednesday that she had comparable experiences of harassment when she was 12 years previous and utilizing public transport to journey to highschool, noting she understands it’s a widespread concern.
“I decided to press charges because this is something that I experienced as a woman, but that we as women experience in our country,” she stated.
Andrea Gonzalez Martinez, 27, who works for Mexican lender Nacional Monte de Piedad, stated she has been harassed on public transport, with a person following her dwelling in a single case.
“It happens regularly, it happens on public transportation,” she stated. “It’s something you experience every day in Mexico.”
A World Well being Group report this yr revealed that one in three girls within the Americas has skilled bodily or sexual violence from a accomplice or by a 3rd social gathering.
Within the first seven months of this yr, instances of femicide in Mexico decreased by nearly 40% in comparison with the identical interval in 2024, and intentional accidents in opposition to girls dropped by 11%, in keeping with figures from the Federal Safety Secretariat.
From 2019 to 2024, solely 20% to 30% of ladies experiencing violence in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay used state companies particularly designed for them, in keeping with a report by the Financial Fee for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on femicide within the area.
