‘Re-victimisation’
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Sheinbaum blasted Mexican newspaper Reforma for publishing images of the man groping her, saying she considered it a “re-victimisation” and that it crossed an ethical line.
“The use of the image is also a crime,” the president said, pointing to legislation against digital violence. “I am waiting for an apology from the newspaper.”
The federal government’s Women’s Ministry, created under Sheinbaum, issued a statement on Tuesday encouraging women to report violence against them, but asking media outlets “not to reproduce content that violates the integrity of women”.
Still, feminist activists have sharply criticised Sheinbaum in the past for not doing enough to address violence against women. Among other things, they point to lacklustre prosecutions and investigations of femicides – the killing of a woman because of her gender.
In 2024, Mexico recorded 821 killings of women and girls, according to government data. There have been 501 deaths recorded to September this year, and many advocates say the numbers are likely far underestimated.
Ana Yeli Perez of the National Citizen Observatory on Femicide said the groping of Sheinbaum put the issue of violence against women on the national agenda again.
“It’s reprehensible, it must be denounced, it must be named because it’s an act of violence, but it’s also a significant event and symbolic of what women experience every day,” she said.
Sheinbaum said sexual harassment should be a “criminal offence, punishable by law”, and added that she had asked the Women’s Ministry to conduct a review of the legal codes in each state.
Sexual harassment is a crime in about half of Mexican states, as well as Mexico City.
Marina Reyna, executive director of the Guerrero Association against Violence toward Women, said that watching the video, she initially worried that Sheinbaum had minimised the assault, by continuing to smile and talk calmly to the man. But she hoped the president’s willingness to talk about it on Wednesday would change how such cases are handled.
“You lose confidence in the institutions,” Reyna said. “The people stop going to report it because when you report it, nothing happens.”
AP, Reuters
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