Reality in Mexico is often so harsh that it hits us in the face. The incident of harassment suffered by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday afternoon demonstrates that violence against women is still very present in this country. Sheinbaum left the National Palace to head to another nearby government building and along the way approached a group of people who wanted to greet her and take photos with her. Among them, a 33-year-old man decided this was an opportunity to hug her, try to kiss her and touch her chest without her consent. What woman in Mexico can say she hasn’t found herself in that same circumstance at least once in her life?
Mexico’s political history has given us the tools to identify this episode as a crime – with sentences of four to five years for the attackers – but it has not provided us with an indispensable pedagogy on what street sexual harassment is, especially towards men. A good portion of them still believe they have the right to touch a woman’s body without her consent. This will have no consequences. May women adopt their actions with silence and resignation. Those who complain exaggerate. What was permitted at a certain time cannot change. That shouldn’t change.
The bad news is that Sheinbaum’s harassment fits the statistics perfectly. It shouldn’t, but according to the data it persists and grows. The 2021 National Survey on the Dynamics of Domestic Relationships (ENDIREH) – the latest available – reveals that 45% of women acknowledge having experienced street harassment. These are 23 million women, the equivalent of half the Spanish population. As in the case of Sheinbaum, 60% of the episodes take place in broad daylight and under the gaze of others. 94% of women victims of this type of harassment do not report it and respond to the survey claiming that “it was something unimportant”.
The truth is that it matters, and the turn Sheinbaum took Thursday morning could be crucial. She is part of the 4.3% of women who report the harasser. The Mexican president took time to process the attack, used the legal tools created to address what happened, and spoke publicly about what cannot be tolerated. It is very likely that, in a private setting, you will also have the opportunity to psychologically analyze what happened to you. Other times, the Mexican political class – regardless of its ideological inclination – has relied on oblivion and Mexico’s very strong sexist idiosyncrasy to turn the page on the harassment seen on the streets, but also in high places.
Sheinbaum spoke of her intention to launch, together with the new Women’s Secretariat, a campaign to prevent street harassment of women. It is a first step, but the task will have to be bigger and will have to last for years, perhaps decades, in the face of a problem that is very evident simply by going out anywhere in Mexico. A gigantic task for the country where 10 women are killed a day and where women travel separately on public transport to avoid touching each other. Reality in the face. The Mexican head of state deserves all the protection that someone with his investiture should have, and its citizens deserve to enjoy public space without fear of harassment.
