A personal episode that changed the rules of the game
Politics is sometimes written with brutal facts. In November 2025, President Claudia Sheinbaum was walking through the Historic Center when she was the victim of harassment. That intimate moment of vulnerability triggered what is now law.
Four months later, the Chamber of Deputies approved a package of reforms to the Federal Penal Code. They are not cosmetic changes. They are a direct blow against two scourges: sexual abuse and stalking.
The so-called ‘Valeria Law’ reaches the federal level
This law is named after Valeria Macías, a woman from Nuevo León who was a victim of obsessive persecution. What already existed in some states will now be the norm throughout the country.
The reform sanctions anyone who repeatedly monitors, persecutes or harasses another person without their consent, affecting their tranquility or daily life.
And here comes the important thing: it includes aggravating circumstances when the victim is a minor, an older adult or is in a vulnerable situation. Annoying anyone is not the same as harassing someone who cannot defend themselves in the same way.
The new penalties are forceful:
- Sexual harassment: 1 to 3 years in prison and up to 600 days fine
- Stalking: 2 to 4 years in prison and up to 400 days fine
- Sexual abuse: 3 to 7 years plus fines of 200 to 500 times the UMA
But there is a fundamental change that could make a difference. Sexual abuse may be investigated ex officio. Without the victim having to file a complaint first.
That breaks a huge barrier. Many women do not report out of fear, mistrust in the authorities, or the procedural ordeal. Now the State will have to move even if she does not take the first step.
The scene behind the scenes: the expert ‘buts’
This is where my journalistic mind gets suspicious. Laws on paper are one thing; its real application, quite another.
UNAM academics point out that the ambiguous wording of some concepts, such as ‘repeatedly’, could lead to discretionary interpretations and re-victimization.
That vague term – ‘reiterated’ – is a dangerous door. How many times is it ‘reiterated’? Two? Five? Ten? It leaves room for insensitive judges to minimize serious cases.
And then there is the key issue: training. The same academics emphasize that without effective training for police, public ministries and judges, these reforms could remain a dead letter.
Imagine a woman arriving to file a complaint for stalking and encountering a police officer who tells her ‘what do you want me to do, if he’s just following you’. That clash between new law and old mentality is where this battle is won or lost.
Repairing the damage is also contemplated – workshops with a gender perspective, community services for those sentenced. But I insist: everything depends on how it is implemented.
This is not just political theater. It is a direct response to the silent cry of millions of Mexicans who live in fear in the streets, in transportation, even walking through the center as happened to the president.
The lights are on this legislative scenario. Now it’s time to see if the actors in the judicial system will know how to follow the script – or if they will once again improvise a frustrating ending.
