Sheinbaum has called for a nationwide review of sexual harassment laws, as the attack highlights Mexico’s poor record on women’s safety.
Published on November 6, 2025
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has called for sexual harassment to be criminalized nationwide after she was mobbed in the street while greeting supporters near the presidential palace in Mexico City.
Sheinbaum, 63, said Wednesday that she has filed charges against the man and will review nationwide sexual harassment laws after the attack by a drunken man who put his arm around her shoulder and tried to kiss her neck with his other hand, touching her hip and breast.
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Mexico’s first female president removed the man’s hands before a member of his staff stepped between them. The President’s security detail was barely visible at the moment of the attack, which was caught on camera.
The man was later arrested.
“My thoughts are: If I don’t file a complaint, what will happen to other Mexican women? If this happens to the president, what will happen to all the women in our country?” Sheinbaum said Wednesday at her regular morning press conference.
In a post on social media, the President said the attack was “experienced by many women in the country and around the world”.
I filed a complaint about the harassment I experienced yesterday in Mexico City. It should be clear that, beyond being the President, this is what many women in the country and the world have experienced; No one can violate your body and personal space.
We will review… pic.twitter.com/jcs6FweI6q
— Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (@claudiashein) 5 November 2025
Translation: I filed a complaint for the harassment I experienced yesterday in Mexico City. It should be clear that many women in the country and the world have experienced this beyond being the President; No one can violate your body and personal space. We will review the law so that this crime is punishable in all 32 states.
Sheinbaum explained that the incident occurred when she and her team decided to walk from the National Palace to the Ministry of Education to save time. She said instead of a 20-minute car ride, they can walk the route in five minutes.
She urged states in Mexico to look at their laws and procedures to make it easier for women to report such attacks, saying Mexicans needed to hear “loud and clear, no, women’s personal space should not be violated.”
Mexico’s 32 states and Mexico City, which is a federal entity, all have their own criminal codes, and not all states criminalize sexual harassment.
“This should be a criminal offense and we’re going to launch a campaign,” Sheinbaum said, noting that she had similar attacks in her youth.
The incident has focused on Mexico’s troubling record on women’s safety, with sexual harassment common and rights groups warning of a femicide crisis, with the United Nations reporting that an average of 10 women are murdered in the country every day.
According to the UN, 70 percent of Mexican women age 15 and older will experience at least one incident of sexual harassment in their lifetime.
The attack also drew criticism for Scheinbaum’s security detail and her insistence on maintaining some degree of intimacy with the public, despite Mexican politicians regularly being the target of cartel violence.
But Sheinbaum dismissed any suggestion that she would increase her security or change the way she interacts with the public after the incident.
At a nationwide rally in September marking her first year in power, the president allowed supporters to hug her and take selfies.