Mexico‘s President Claudia Sheinbaum faced an unsettling incident on Tuesday after she was groped by a man while meeting citizens in the street.
In footage circulating widely on social media, a man appears to lean in and tries to kiss her on the neck without her consent while she speaks to her supporters on a historic street in Mexico City.
The man, who appears to be inebriated, then proceeds to place both of his hands on Sheinbaum’s breasts before she removes his grip from her body.
The president, who remains composed and maintains a stiff smile, then turns to face the man and tells him, ‘let’s take the photo, don’t worry’.
Only then, a member of her security team appears to intervene.
The shocking incident has sparked reactions from stunned social media users, with several questioning why her security team did not stop the man from groping the Mexican leader right away.
‘Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gets groped by a strange man in Mexico City on Tuesday. The man appeared inebriated and tried to kiss Sheinbaum. Where was her security?’, one X user wrote.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was groped by a man on Tuesday while she met her supporters on the streets of Mexico City
In this video grab, a man is seen placing both of his hands on the president’s breasts
A composed Sheinbaum is seen calmly removing the man’s hands from her body after he touched her without her consent
Another said: ‘If Mexico can’t keep its President safe, how can it keep anyone safe?’
‘Incredible!! A man groped Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in public. More incredible was the weak response from her security’, a third wrote.
Sheinbaum’s office did not immediately respond to a request from Associated Press for comment about the incident, but according to local media, the man was arrested shortly after the incident.
The Women’s Secretariat, the Women’s Institutes in the Federal Entities, and the presidents of the Gender Equality Commissions in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate later issued a statement condemning the incident experienced by Sheinbaum.
‘Unfortunately, no woman is exempt from experiencing sexual harassment in our country, which is why we work daily to combat it,’ the statement said.
Mexico has long been plagued by ‘machismo’ and violence against women, which can range from comments on the street to, in its most extreme form, acid attacks and brutal slayings of women.
Several social media users have criticised the slow response of the president’s security team
Sheinbaum is Mexico’s first ever female president. Her landslide victory last year represented a major step for a country plagued by rampant gender-based violence
Sheinbaum, like her predecessor and political mentor ex-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tries to maintain a connection with people, frequently diving into crowds for selfies and handshakes.
It was an unnerving scene in a week when Sheinbaum has repeatedly had to address questions about political violence following the public assassination of a mayor in western Michoacan state.
Sheinbaum made history last year after she was elected as Mexico’s first ever woman president following a historic landslide win.
In a country plagued by rampant criminal and gender-based violence, the win represented a major step for Mexico.
