Mexico’s president was groped in plain sight – are we ever safe?

‘Don’t worry,’ said Claudia Sheinbaum with a grimace as she tried to shrug off the assault – before realising she had to take a stand for all women against men who think they are above the law. Which gets Emma Clarke’s vote

On Tuesday, as she mingled with the public near the National Palace in Mexico City, the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was groped in plain sight by an intoxicated man in the crowd.

It was only after he attempted to kiss her neck and touch her, however, that her security stepped between them to diffuse the situation. By then, the damage had already been done.

“Don’t worry,” she said, with a grimace – a reaction women will recognise all too well, irrespective of whether they have press and public scrutinising their every move. Smoothing things over is sometimes all we can do, especially if there’s a risk that things will escalate.

At a press conference later in the week, Sheinbaum confirmed that she would be pressing charges. If she didn’t take action, she said, “Where does that leave all Mexican women? If they do this to the president, what happens to all the other women in the country?”

Mexico is in the midst of an epidemic of misogynist violence, with 500 women killed in the first six months of 2025 alone. Sheinbaum’s questions have been playing on my mind since I saw the disturbing footage on social media.

Ms Sheinbaum's security swiftly stepped in during the incident (Supplied)

Of course, there is the question of security, or lack thereof. While the president chose to reduce her security detail and to interact with members of the public, much like her male predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, did before her, how on earth did it take so long for her team to step in? It’s even more baffling given that just days before, Mayor Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez was fatally shot at close range during Day of the Dead celebrations in the town of Uruapan.

But it goes beyond that. That any woman should be subjected to this sort of behaviour in 2025 is abhorrent. That a female head of state is just as open to these attacks is astonishing – especially when she was surrounded by cameras, and the perpetrator was acting so brazenly in broad daylight, with his face in full view.

It speaks to how men, not just in Mexico but the world over, feel emboldened. And why wouldn’t they? The lack of accountability, let alone punishment to fit the crime, makes them think that they can do and say as they please, without consequence. Men are essentially above the law.

And while the onus should never be on women to hold men accountable, I am glad that Sheinbaum has taken this powerful stance – and that there has rightly been outcry since the incident occurred. Without standing up for ourselves and calling out predatory behaviour when we see it, the chances of assailants being punished become even slimmer, and we run the risk of accepting it as the norm.

But we need more action. We need perpetrators to be reprimanded and for harsher punishments to be enforced. Women need more support and allyship from the men in our lives and across society. And we need to stop acting as if this sort of behaviour is acceptable. It isn’t, and it never has been.