Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that she has filed a formal complaint against a man who groped and tried to kiss her as she walked between meetings in Mexico City — an incident that was caught on video and quickly went viral, sparking national outrage.
“If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country?” Sheinbaum said during a press conference. “No man has the right to abuse women’s personal space.”
The video, which circulated widely on social media before being removed by several accounts, showed a middle-aged man putting his arm around Sheinbaum, touching her chest, and attempting to kiss her as she greeted members of the public near the National Palace on Tuesday. The president pushed his hands away before one of her aides intervened. Her security team appeared to be out of immediate reach.
Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, said the man appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the assault. He was later identified by local media as Uriel Rivera, and according to a state security report, he was arrested Tuesday night around 9 p.m.
Despite the incident, Sheinbaum said she will not increase her security or change her habit of walking among crowds, a tradition she shares with her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “We have to be close to the people,” she said.
Criticism of Media Coverage
Sheinbaum also criticized Mexican newspaper Reforma for publishing images of the moment she was assaulted, calling it “re-victimization” and a violation of ethical standards. “The use of the image is also a crime,” she said, citing laws against digital violence. “I am waiting for an apology from the newspaper.”
Mexico’s Women’s Ministry, which was created under Sheinbaum’s administration, issued a statement urging women to report acts of violence and asked media outlets not to reproduce content that violates women’s integrity.
Ongoing Struggle with Gender-Based Violence
The incident has once again thrown a spotlight on Mexico’s pervasive problem of violence against women, an issue that feminist groups say has not been adequately addressed by successive governments — including Sheinbaum’s own.
According to official data, 821 femicides were recorded in Mexico in 2024, with 501 cases registered through September this year. Activists warn that the real numbers are likely far higher due to chronic underreporting and poor investigations.
“It’s reprehensible, it must be denounced, it must be named, because it’s an act of violence — but it’s also symbolic of what women experience every day,” said Ana Yeli Pérez, head of the National Citizen Observatory on Femicide.
Push to Criminalize Harassment Nationwide
Following the assault, Sheinbaum said she has asked the Women’s Ministry to review state legal codes to ensure that sexual harassment is criminalized across the country. Currently, harassment is a criminal offense in only about half of Mexico’s 32 states and in Mexico City.
“Sexual harassment should be a criminal offense, punishable by law,” Sheinbaum said.
While many see Sheinbaum’s decision to file a formal complaint as a strong message against impunity, others say the attack exposes the everyday dangers Mexican women face — even those at the highest levels of power.
