Mexico's First Female President Groped in Public: Claudia Sheinbaum To Launch Harassment Reform

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has filed criminal charges against a man who groped her and attempted to kiss her whilst she greeted supporters near the National Palace in Mexico City, transforming the assault into a rallying cry for nationwide legal reform.

The incident occurred on Tuesday as Sheinbaum, 63, walked from the National Palace to the Education Ministry. Video footage captured a middle-aged man approaching the president from behind, putting his arm around her shoulder, touching her chest and hip, and attempting to kiss her neck before security intervened.

'I decided to press charges because this is something that I experienced as a woman, but that we as women experience in our country', Sheinbaum said during her morning press briefing on Wednesday. 'If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country? No man has the right to abuse women's personal space'.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada announced that the man had been arrested and taken into custody at the Sexual Crimes Investigation Unit. Police said preliminary findings link the individual to the alleged harassment of two other women on the same street that day. Local media identified the man as Uriel Rivera, who appeared to be noticeably intoxicated.

Aftermath of the Assault

The president revealed that she did not immediately realise the full extent of the assault until she watched video footage afterwards. 'It wasn't until I saw the videos later that I realised what had really happened', she said. Sheinbaum also recalled suffering similar harassment when she was just 12 years old whilst using public transport to get to school.

According to United Nations data, approximately 70 per cent of Mexican women aged 15 and over will experience at least one incident of sexual harassment in their lives. The UN also reports that an average of 10 women are murdered every day in Mexico. In 2024, Mexico recorded 821 femicides, with 501 recorded through September this year.

Push for Legal Reform and Broader Impact

Sheinbaum announced that she is launching a nationwide campaign to make sexual harassment a criminal offence in every Mexican state. Sexual harassment is currently a crime in about half of Mexican states and in the capital, but not uniformly across the country.

'It should be a criminal offence, punishable by law', Sheinbaum said, adding that she has asked Mexico's Women's Ministry to conduct a comprehensive review of the legal codes in each state. She called on states to examine their laws and procedures to make it easier for women to report such assaults.

The incident has raised questions about Sheinbaum's minimal security detail, particularly following the assassination of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo during a public event just days earlier. However, Sheinbaum dismissed any suggestion that she would increase her security or alter how she interacts with people.

'We can't stay far from the people. That would deny who we are', she said. 'We have to be close to the people'.