Mexico’s first female president is pressing charges against a man who groped her at a public appearance this week.
“I decided to press charges because this is something I experienced as a woman — something all women in our country experience,” said Claudia Sheinbaum, who was sworn in as president on Oct. 1, 2024. “No man has the right to violate that space.”
The awkward moment was caught on camera as a drunken man put his arm around Sheinbaum and attempted to kiss her neck before touching her chest.
“Unfortunately, no woman is exempt from sexual harassment in our country,” the Secretariat for Women said in a statement. “It’s crucial for men to understand that these acts are not only violent but criminal.
“These forms of violence must not be trivialized; denouncing them is fundamental to justice and cultural change,” it said.
The suspect has been arrested and is in the custody of the sex crimes investigation unit, according to Mexico City police. He allegedly harassed two other women the same day.
His name has not been released. In Mexico, authorities are generally prohibited from publicly naming criminal suspects before a conviction due to legal protections surrounding the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy.
Sheinbaum has previously shared that she was the victim of harassment before, once at the age of 12, and later, by a professor.
She plans to use the incident to launch a campaign to stop harassment against women.
“Harassment is a crime, and it’s time everyone in this country understands that,” she said.
In the US, nearly 57 percent of women report being touched or grabbed in a sexual way by a stranger in public, according to an organization working to stop street harassment.
In Mexico, 45 percent of women have been victims of street harassment.
Video: Mexico’s president groped in public appearance
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Crystal Graham
