Mexico’s first female President 'sexually harassed' in public, sparks new debate

As Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum groped in public, sparking a global debate about violence against women.

President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed that she filed a complaint against a man who groped her and tried to harass her as she walked between the meetings in the capital city.

Sheinbaum said that the harassment she suffered from a drunk man in the street near Mexico’s seat of government was “an assault on all women”.

“I decided to press charges because this is something I experienced as a woman — something all women in our country experience,” she said.

"No man has the right to abuse women's personal space."

The Mexican president filed a complaint against the harasser a day after the incident happened and videos went viral on social media.

The incident happened in the capital’s historic centre as Latin America’s first woman leader made the short walk from Mexico’s National Palace to the Ministry of Education.

The viral footage showed a man breaking through a crowd of people greeting Sheinbaum in Mexico City and touch her inappropriately.

A drunk man from the public approached her and tried to kiss her in broad daylight in front of the crowd waiting to greet the female President.

Following the incident, one of the president’s top aides, Juan Jose Ramirez Mendoza intervened and saved her.

The incident, caught on camera, has once again highlighted how women leaders continue to face sexual harassment-online as well as offline.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed that politics is quite unsafe for women.

This incident highlights just how “power does not insulate women from facing gender-based violence, be it in the form of physical abuse, deepfakes or online rape threats”.

"If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country," said Mexico's first female president.

Additionally, the recent episode has sparked outrage online and renewed a debate over harassment and the safety of women in public life.