Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has officially pressed charges against a man who groped her during a public walk near the National Palace.

Getting into it: The incident, which occurred in broad daylight in Mexico City’s historic center, was captured on video and quickly circulated online before being taken down by some platforms. The footage shows a visibly intoxicated man approaching Sheinbaum as she greets members of the public, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and using the other hand to grope her chest and hip while attempting to kiss her neck. Sheinbaum is seen calmly but firmly removing the man’s hands before a member of her team intervenes. The man, later identified as 33-year-old Uriel Rivera Martínez, was arrested that evening. At the time, the president was walking between the National Palace and the Ministry of Education with minimal staff and without her full security detail nearby.

Following the incident, Sheinbaum addressed the public in her daily press briefing, confirming she had filed a police report and would not ignore what had happened. “If I don’t file a complaint, what message does that send to all Mexican women? If this can happen to the president, what’s going to happen to all the young women and women across our country?” She noted that the incident reflects a broader crisis of gender-based violence and harassment, and vowed to push for uniform legal protections nationwide. “No man has the right to violate a woman’s personal space,” she said. “We need to make this visible and say no — a firm no.”

In response, Sheinbaum has ordered a legal review of all 32 Mexican states’ criminal codes, as sexual harassment is not currently classified as a crime in many of them. She called on Mexico’s Women’s Ministry to lead the effort and announced the launch of a national campaign to make sexual harassment a punishable offense throughout the country.

The incident has sparked scrutiny over Sheinbaum’s security practices, given that she is the most powerful woman in Mexico and a high-profile public figure in a country plagued by cartel violence.