Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum cries after man grabbed her breasts in public

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she will press charges against a man who molested her during a public appearance. Cellphone video of the incident on Tuesday showed Scheinbaum talking to a group of supporters on a street near the National Palace in Mexico City.

In the video, A man approached her from behind, tried to kiss her neck and put his hands on her body.

Sheinbaum quickly left and members of her team intervened, but she was visibly shaken. The criminal has been arrested.

“My point is, if I don’t file a complaint, what will happen to other Mexican women? What would happen to all the women in our country if they did this to the president?? ” Sheinbaum said at a news conference Wednesday.

“I decided to press charges because this is something I’ve experienced as a woman and it’s something we experience as women in our country,” she said. “I’ve been through this before, when I wasn’t president and I was a student. “

She added that she decided to press charges against the suspect because he allegedly harassed other women in the crowd.

“A line has to be drawn,” she said.

Women’s rights groups and feminist commentators said the incident showed the ingrained masculinity in Mexican society, where a man believes he has the right to even speak to the president if she were a woman.

Femicide is also a big problem in Mexico, with an estimated 98 percent of gender-based murders going unpunished.

Sheinbaum promised to address the issue as a candidate, but so far there has been no significant improvement in the area of ​​violent crime during her administration.

The incident also comes amid discussions about the safety of the president and the broader safety of politicians.

As president, Sheinbaum has largely followed the lead of her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in maintaining close and regular contact with her supporters on the streets or at campaign events.

Sometimes, this creates safety issues for her team. However, she confirmed at the new meeting that she had no intention of changing her policy on engaging with supporters.

The incident also occurred a few days after Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, a city in the violent state of Michoacán, was murdered during local Day of the Dead celebrations.

Manzo called on Sheinbaum to provide greater federal support for Uruapan’s fight against drug cartels. Some 35 candidates were killed in the run-up to last year’s election, considered the bloodiest campaign in modern Mexico.

Since taking office, Scheinbaum has made progress in improving the country’s dire security situation, particularly in combating fentanyl trafficking – a key issue facing President Donald Trump.