Gov’t Plan to End Sexual Abuse in Mexico

Mexico City — During yesterday’s presidential conference, the federal government presented the Comprehensive Plan against Sexual Abuse, a project featuring seven key actions designed to guarantee women's access to justice and promote a cultural change to denormalize and eradicate sexist behaviors.

The lines of action include standardizing the classification of sexual abuse as a serious crime across all federal entities; streamlining the process for filing complaints; launching awareness and prevention campaigns aimed at both women and men; training agents of the Public Ministry, judges, and prosecutors with a gender perspective; and implementing protocols against harassment and sexual abuse on public transportation.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that a gender perspective and the eradication of violence are now part of the curriculum for basic education, offering hope that the next generations will grow up without the misogynistic flaws that cause so much harm to women and society in general.

Regarding the legal aspect of the fight against gender-based violence, it is notable that in the Federal Penal Code, sexual abuse encompasses acts such as lewd touching, forcing someone to witness sexual acts, or exhibiting the victim's body, and is punishable by six to 10 years in prison. However, in nine states, its criminal classification is not sufficiently strengthened, and in four states, there is not even a clear definition of the crime.

Undoubtedly, these legal gaps contribute to the gray figure of cases that go unreported due to fear or distrust of the authorities. Considering that so far this year, 25,070 investigation files have been opened for sexual abuse, and that these represent only a sample of the aggressions, the outlook is chilling.

Therefore, it constitutes an invaluable step forward that the problem is being made visible and that a proposal to address it is being offered. However, this small progress is occurring amidst a suffocating situation for millions of women.

The fact that the issue has returned to the center of public debate due to the sexual harassment experienced by the President of the Republic highlights the scale of this scourge. As the head of state pointed out, if even she is exposed to such aggressions, it means that no woman is safe from violations of her dignity and personal space.

The repudiation of misogyny and sexism from society, the media, and both national and international organizations can be seen as a positive outcome of the regrettable episode, as it has amplified the voice of women and ignited what could be a new cycle of denunciation and cleansing of all types of institutions.

It remains, therefore, to welcome the decision to confront head-on and with the force of the law a problem that is often minimized, hidden, or relegated to the private sphere; frequently, due to the well-founded fear of victims that going public will result in more and worse acts of harassment.

Finally, the abuse against the head of the Executive and the discussions it has sparked serve as a reminder that the arrival of the first woman to the Presidency in history is not a point of arrival, but rather a point of departure in the imperative search for substantive equality and a life free of violence for all women.