The public groping of Mexico's first female president has provoked widespread outrage in the nation, particularly among women. The incident, which occurred Tuesday as Claudia Sheinbaum walked through a crowd, was captured on video. It shows a man attempting to kiss her neck and grope her from behind. The man was ultimately arrested. The episode appears to have struck a nerve in a country where violence against women is pervasive—an average of 10 women are killed daily, and more than 500 were murdered in acts of femicide in the first six months of this year alone, per the Guardian.
"If this happens to the head of state ... it also happens silently every day to thousands of women in our country," said Sen. Alejandra Arias of Sheinbaum's Morena party. That sentiment was echoed by a student who spoke to the Guardian, noting that if a woman with guards isn't immune, "all of us women can be assaulted at any moment." Commenting on the abuse Wednesday, Sheinbaum herself observed, "It is something that all women in our country experience."
Lawmakers of various stripes condemned the assault, with some promising legislative action to better protect women. Sheinbaum called for sexual harassment to be criminalized across the country, and for states to make it easier for women to report abuse, per Euronews. Citizens need to hear a "loud and clear no; women's personal space must not be violated," she said. Still, political divisions surfaced, as one opposition leader suggested the incident was staged to distract from cartel violence—a claim that critics said further victimized Sheinbaum.
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