Mexico takes action to combat sexual abuse after president publicly groped

The shocking public groping of Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has prompted rapid political action to tackle sexual abuse, as well as public debate on how best to address the problem, which is widespread across the country.

Citlalli Hernández, Mexico’s secretary for women, presented a presidential plan to confront the issue, which would include actions such as ensuring prison sentences for sexual abuse across Mexico, encouraging women to report incidents, and training prosecutors and other officials on how to handle the matter.

The plan would also include a public awareness campaign in public spaces, workplaces, schools and on public transport to prevent violence against women.

“We want to tell all Mexican women, girls, young women, and women in general that you are not alone, that when you experience any type of violence, it is important to report it,” said Hernández last week. “Know that today there is a president who protects you.”

The plan follows a public groping incident in which a seemingly drunken man tried to kiss the Mexican leader and reached for her breasts while she was walking down a street in Mexico City. The incident was captured on video and provoked outrage among Mexican women.

The fact that even the president could face such an assault brought national visibility to an issue that affects millions of Mexican women every day.

According to the country’s national statistics agency, seven out of 10 Mexican women and girls aged 15 and up had experienced at least one incident of violence in their lifetime, including psychological or sexual abuse. So far this year, 25,000 complaints of sexual harassment have been filed in Mexico nationwide.

Such instances of abuse often lead to greater violence: In Mexico, an average of 10 women are murdered every day, while in just the first six months of this year, more than 500 women were killed because of their gender in a crime known as femicide.

“What happened to the president is what has happened to many of us,” said Congresswoman Rocio Abreu, from Sheinbaum’s Morena party. “The president is just another one of us who have experienced harassment, political violence, physical violence, sexual violence, economic violence. There is a whole range of violence against women … And none of us are exempt.”

Related: ‘Attacked no matter what they do’: why female politicians face relentless cycle of abuse

A key part of the president’s plan is ensuring that sexual assault is considered a criminal offense in all of the country’s 32 states, bringing them in line with federal law, which imposes six to 10 years of prison time for violent sexual abuse committed against vulnerable people or minors.

“We need to review who has legislated on issues related to the agenda of non-violence against women,” said Senator Martha Lucía Mícher, also from the governing Morena party, who added that the senate would be reviewing state penal codes on sexual abuse. “It’s a crime committed against the daughters of judges, their sisters, their wives.”

But Mícher noted that legislation was just one element of what needed to happen in order to properly address the issue.

“You have to classify the crime as a serious offense. You also work with men. You also empower women. You also conduct awareness campaigns. You also train public officials, police officers, government officials and judges. And you also do great work with the community.”

But some women were skeptical that the government would really be able to enact meaningful change, particularly given the strength of Mexico’s feminist movement and the lack of forceful state response.

“It’s been too many years of fighting and too many years of this movement and there hasn’t been a difference,” said Itzayana Brito, a 20-year-old nursing student. “There have been small changes, but there’s never been a concrete difference.”

Meanwhile, feminist activists questioned the government’s emphasis on criminal punishment of crimes as a means of stopping the rampant abuse.

“What worries me is that the president’s focus is exclusively on criminal law and she is neglecting other avenues that could be strengthened,” said Estefania Vela, a legal expert and executive director of feminist group Intersecta. “It’s an easy response to change criminal codes but there’s little change in real life.”

Feminist activist Oriana López agreed.

“There’s a theory that if we include it in the penal code and increase the penalties, making it a harsher punishment, meaning more years in prison, then it will prevent people from doing it,” she said. “That’s the theory, but there’s no evidence to support it. It hasn’t been proven that this is a realistic, or long-term measure.”

Rather, the activists said, the government should be focused on educational campaigns to bring about a societal shift where this kind of abuse is no longer viewed as acceptable.

“There has to be cultural change in masculinity,” said López. “What are we doing so that men have a masculinity that isn’t toxic, that isn’t violent, that isn’t invasive – so that they’re not abusive?”