Hundreds protest violence against women in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Hundreds of women protested in Mexico City on Nov 25 against gender-based violence, which kills an average of 10 women or girls every day in Mexico, according to official data.

Mexican lawyer Alejandra Perez said she lives in fear every day since the violence she faced from her former partner temporarily left her disabled.

But the 37-year-old summoned the courage to join the protest to denouce the impunity of many perpetrators of gender-based violence in Mexico, and marched holding a poster showing the man she accuses of attacking her.

“I filed a complaint against him three years ago, and this man is still at large,” she said of her daughter’s father.

She added: “The system is very slow. Unfortunately many women have to conduct their own investigations.”

The United Nations reports that 70 per cent of Mexican women over the age of 15 have experienced some form of aggression at least once in their lives.

Mexican parliamentary records indicate 3,430 women died violent deaths in Mexico in 2024, with 829 victims of femicide, a crime defined as murder motivated by a victim’s gender.

Mexico is experiencing a wave of feminist fervour fuelled by anger over the high number of assaults and the impunity of perpetrators.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recently launched a nationwide drive against sexual harassment and abuse, after a

shocking video of a man groping her

brought the widespread issue into stark focus.

The country’s first woman leader presented a plan to ensure prison sentences for sexual abuse across Mexico and to encourage women to report incidents to police.

The 63-year-old leader was accosted as she walked through Mexico City when a seemingly drunk man put his arm around her shoulder, touched her hip and chest and attempted to kiss her neck, before a member of the President’s security detail pulled him away. AFP