No more ‘it was not criminal’: the plan arrives so that sexual abuse in Mexico does count
It seems that the harassment of which President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was a victim was the last straw that broke the camel’s back of patience (and impunity). In a move that many will call “it’s about time,” Citlalli Hernández, the head of the Women’s Secretariat, came forward to announce that, finally, the government is charting a serious route to classify sexual abuse as a serious crime throughout the country. Basically, they want it to stop being a ‘second-class crime’ and for the sanction to be forceful in every corner of the Republic, so that women know that they can report it without being passed on between states.
In his statement, with a tone somewhere between hopeful and “recess is over,” Hernández emphasized: “We seek to make sexual abuse a serious crime, which should be punished in all entities.” In other words, the idea is to homogenize the criteria so that, regardless of your zip code, the law protects you in the same way. A revolutionary concept, we know.
The survival kit against sexist violence
But not everything is about modifying criminal codes, which sounds boring and complex (because it is). The strategy comes with a complete combo. In the already famous morning conference from the National Palace, Hernández called for building a new relationship between men and women, based on equality, peace and, obviously, the absence of violence. Translation: it’s time to unlearn a lot of toxic behaviors that we have normalized.
A fundamental part of this comprehensive plan against sexual abuse is a massive awareness campaign. The goal? That women clearly identify what violence is and know how and where to report it quickly. Because there is no point in having laws if no one knows how to use them. The secretary’s message was clear and direct: “You are not alone, when you experience any type of violence, it is important to report it.” And he finished with that detail that makes more than one feel observed: a call for attention to men to reflect on those “actions and attitudes” that have been overlooked for too long.
The official presentation of the plan, which took place in the Treasurer’s Room, did not stop at the punitive aspect. The vision is more ambitious: to facilitate the entire institutional response, from care to the administration of justice, and most importantly, for society as a whole to embrace a cultural change. In other words, what should never be normal stops being normal.
The real challenge: that the system believes in women
This is where things get interesting (and complicated). Citlalli Hernández was very honest about the biggest obstacle. It is not enough to change the law on paper; The monumental challenge is that public ministries, prosecutors’ offices, male and female judges act with an authentic gender perspective and with the necessary sensitivity when a woman comes to file a complaint. Basically, the plan seeks to prevent the experience of reporting from being re-victimizing, an evil that many know all too well.
To achieve this, the Secretariat has already done its homework: it carried out an exhaustive mapping of the state criminal codes. The findings are a mix of hope and disorder. In 19 states there are already criteria and aggravating factors that could strengthen this crime, but the problem is inconsistency and lack of uniformity. In simple words: the legal landscape is a true labyrinth.
The key date to see concrete progress on this route and the awareness campaign will be November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. A symbolic date to demonstrate with facts that, this time, the commitment is real and not just a speech for the gallery.
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