🔗 Share this article

“Machismo in Mexico is so pervasive that not one the head of state is protected,” stated a professor and feminist, expressing a sentiment echoed by numerous women throughout the country. This follows after a widely circulated footage showed a intoxicated man groping the country’s first female president as she strolled from the National Palace to the department of education. The president, who has filed a complaint against the perpetrator, remarked at a media conference: “If they do this to the president, what happens to all the other women in the country?”

Historic Situation Sheds Light on Pervasive Gender-Based Violence

Sheinbaum’s historic role has made this a learning opportunity in a society where sexual harassment and assault on public spaces and buses and trains are frequently accepted and dismissed. At the same time, rival factions have claimed the assault was staged to shift focus from the recent murder of a local mayor, a critic of organized crime. However, the majority of women know that sexual violence need not be staged—studies indicate that half of women in Mexico have faced it at some point in their lives.

Navigating Public Engagement and Security

The president, similar to her predecessor, is known for wading into crowds, greeting people, and posing for selfies. She was such an interaction that she was assaulted. “It’s a delicate equilibrium between ensuring security and maintaining proximity to the people,” noted Ishtar Cardona. As a woman leader, it’s a sobering realization that you often can’t win.

Those brought up in a very traditional way where male-dominated systems are accepted, a woman such as the president, who is a scientist and a leftist, embodies all that traditional males in the country hate,” the sociologist elaborated.

Shared Stories of Assault and Resistance

Gender-based violence is not limited to Mexico, of course. Discussing the president’s ordeal unleashed a flood of memories and exchanged accounts among female individuals. When the expert spoke about advising her pupils to react when assaulted, she heard about firsthand experiences, such as a case where a woman was assaulted twice during a religious pilgrimage. In a similar vein, accounts of resisting—like beating up a groper in a nightspot—underscore a increasing global movement of women rejecting to remain passive.

Shattering Taboos and Embracing Anger

Maybe this incident will represent a turning point for women across Mexico. “For about a decade, we’ve been challenging the silence, but it’s incredibly difficult,” the sociologist stated. “A lot of women are ashamed, but now we are able to talk about it with more freedom.” She often shares with her students the precautions she employs when leaving home, such as considering attire to avoid harassment. She asks a question to her male pupils: “Did you ever thought about that?” Their response is invariably no.

Today, after the leader’s assault recorded on film and seen worldwide, will Mexican men begin to think differently? The sociologist urges everyone: “You have to harness the outrage!”

One thing is clear: The individuals who fight back leave a lasting impression.