4 States Lack Clear Sexual Abuse Laws

CANCÚN — During President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo's morning press conference, the Secretary for Women, Citlalli Hernández, announced a national strategy to combat sexual harassment and abuse. This action follows a directive from the president to review how this crime is addressed across the nation's states.

The president ordered the investigation after an episode of harassment she personally experienced the previous Tuesday, with the goal of unifying the classification and sanctions for the crime across the entire country.

The official reported that four states—Quintana Roo, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, and Sonora—lack a clear codification to punish sexual abuse. Although the crime is classified in their respective penal codes, there is no precise definition of what it entails, creating legal vacuums that hinder the administration of justice.

In contrast, nineteen states have broad criteria for sanctioning sexual abuse and its aggravating factors, while nine others classify it but with weak formulations. On the Yucatán Peninsula, only the state of Yucatán is part of the group of states with solid legislation and broad criteria to combat this crime, incorporating various aggravating factors that strengthen its penalties.

During her presentation, Citlalli Hernández explained that the strategy's objective is to strengthen support and the administration of justice for women, streamline reporting processes, and guarantee their comprehensive protection.

"The president has asked us to make reporting much more agile, so that women can report harassment or sexual abuse quickly and with shorter pathways that guarantee their safety," she stated.

Article 260 of the Federal Penal Code establishes that sexual abuse encompasses sexual acts, obscene groping or touching; forcing the victim to witness a sexual act or exhibit their body; or any conduct of an explicitly sexual nature.

The federal law imposes penalties of six to ten years in prison and fines of up to two hundred days' wages, with aggravating circumstances when physical violence is involved or when the victim is a minor or belongs to a vulnerable group.

With this strategy, the Secretariat for Women seeks to standardize the classification of sexual abuse in all states, so that women anywhere in the country can be certain they can report and receive justice with the same force of the law.