Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pressing Charges After Being Groped on Camera
FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attends her morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum filed a report over the sexual harassment she experienced on Tuesday, November 4, while walking through the Historic Center of Mexico City on her way to the Ministry of Public Education. She also spoke about it during her morning press conference.
The incident, which has gone viral after videos surfaced on social media, saw a man, apparently intoxicated, approach the president and proceed to grope her before being removed by her security detail.
Sheinbaum Pardo explained that she decided to walk from the National Palace because it is a short journey and walking takes way less time than by car.
“Many people greeted us along the way, no problem. Until this completely drunk person approached, and then I experienced this episode of harassment. At the time, I was actually talking to other people; I didn’t realize it immediately. Juan José, who coordinates the entire support team, arrived and moved him, and it wasn’t until later, when I saw the videos, that I realized what really happened,” she said.
When she saw the videos, the President made the decision to file a report to bring visibility to something that she said happens to women all over the country. “I decided to file a complaint because this is something I experienced as a woman, but it’s something women in our country experience. I’ve experienced it before, when I wasn’t president, when I was a student, as a young woman. It’s a crime in Mexico City; it’s not a criminal offense in every state, but it is in Mexico City,” she said.
“If I don’t file a complaint, besides it being a crime, what becomes of all Mexican women? If this happens to the president, what will happen to all the young women in our country?” she added.
The President also said that harassment is not currently a crime nationwide, but that it is set to review which states don’t consider it a crime so the conduct can be punished similarly across Mexico.
