Sexual harassment in Mexico drives women to look for rides with other women

MEXICO CITY -- When a antheral operator from a fashionable rideshare app asked Ninfa Fuentes for her telephone fig during a thrust done Mexico City, she froze. But erstwhile helium repeatedly pressed her astir her Valentine’s Day plans, a unreserved of panic flooded her body.

What should person been a quiescent thrust location astatine the extremity of the workday 3 years agone turned into a nightmare that galore women successful Mexico acquisition daily: holding their enactment until they cognize they've made it location alive.

“I felt similar I was dying,” Fuentes, 48, said. An planetary economics researcher and a subsister of intersexual violence, she has not utilized nationalist proscription oregon ride-hailing services since.

The speech astir startling levels of intersexual harassment and gender-based violence came roaring backmost this week aft Mexico’s archetypal pistillate president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was captured successful video being groped by a drunk man.

Following the incident, Sheinbaum said she had pressed charges against the man and unveiled a program to marque intersexual harassment a transgression crossed each Mexican states — a bid to marque it easier for women to study specified assaults successful a state wherever an mean of 10 women are killed daily.

After her frightening rideshare app experience, Fuentes turned to AmorrAs, a self-managed feminist web that provides harmless proscription — and enactment — for women successful Mexico City and its suburbs.

AmorrAs seeks to connection a solution to the endemic occupation of intersexual harassment and different forms of gender-based unit that women routinely look connected Mexico’s rideshare apps and nationalist transit.

The web was founded by 29-year-old Karina Alba pursuing the 2022 sidesplitting of Debanhi Escobar, who was recovered dormant days aft getting retired of a taxi connected a acheronian road successful the bluish metropolis of Monterrey.

Alba founded AmorrAs with the anticipation of providing harmless rides for women, choosing her mother, taxi operator Ruth Rojas, to beryllium the network’s archetypal driver. The web present has much than 20 women-only “ally” drivers, serving much than 2,000 women per year.

“My imagination was to lend to nine successful immoderate way," said Alba. “I decided to bash truthful by creating a harmless abstraction for women, 1 wherever they tin unrecorded with dignity and escaped from violence.”

On a caller afternoon, 38-year-old Dian Colmenero received a WhatsApp connection from Alba confirming that the pistillate she was going to thrust was waiting astatine her workplace. On the receiving end, the rider work a connection with the travel details, her “ally” driver’s sanction and number, and a reassuring pinkish bosom emoji. Her “ally” operator would beryllium with her soon.

For information reasons, women person to docket their rides with AmorrAs successful beforehand by filling a form. The terms for each thrust past varies based connected the region traveled.

Colmenero, who works successful selling erstwhile she is not driving with AmorrAs, stole a buss from her partner, petted her aged Yorkie earlier heading retired to 1 of the city’s fiscal districts.

“Before driving with AmorrAs, I had experienced unit connected nationalist transport, connected the subway, and adjacent with ride-hailing apps,” she said. “I erstwhile had to thrust with a operator who told maine and my spouse that helium had beaten up respective women.”

Colmenero greeted her regular passenger, Ninfa Fuentes, with a lukewarm hug. They chatted astir their families, the publication Fuentes is penning and their shared caller ADHD diagnosis.

As the sound of the capital’s postulation rattles the car, Fuentes peers retired the window, assured that she volition get location harmless and sound.

According to the National Public Security System’s Executive Secretariat, Mexico has reported 61,713 enactment crimes truthful acold successful 2025, including 8,704 reports of intersexual harassment.

The National Citizen Observatory connected Femicide says enactment crimes successful Mexico are the slightest reported owed to the precocious level of stigma surrounding them and the deficiency of credibility authorities often widen to women’s reports.

Lawyer Norma Escobar, 32, collaborates with AmorrAs, offering ineligible enactment to women who accidental they person been harassed oregon assaulted.

On much than 1 occasion, Escobar said she heard a forensic doc successful the sex crimes section of the Mexico state’s Attorney General’s Office disregard women filing a intersexual battle complaint, telling them “Nothing has happened to you, determination person been worse cases.”

Escobar, who handles harassment cases connected the thoroughfare and connected nationalist transportation, said that the lack of a forensic doc has connected occasions prevented women from officially filing a report.

A spokesperson from Mexico state’s Attorney General’s Office, erstwhile reached by The Associated Press, said they had nary cognition of the doctor's alleged comment, but erstwhile problems person been discovered the bureau has taken enactment against those involved.

Experts and advocates accidental the past of unit against women successful Mexico is rooted successful deep-seated taste machismo and systemic sex inequality, alongside a justness strategy riddled with problems.

“Seeing that the authorities downplay it, women extremity up often giving up connected their cases,” said Escobar, noting that erstwhile it comes to ensuring women's entree to justice, "there is simply a deficiency of attention, committedness and professionalism from authorities.”

Like galore different women successful Mexico, Nejoi Meddeb, 30, ever traveled with her manus locked connected the doorway grip truthful she could flight if needed. That is however 23-year-old Lidia Gabriela Gómez died successful 2022 erstwhile she jumped retired of a moving taxi successful Mexico City aft the operator took a antithetic way than the 1 she had requested.

Maria José Cabrera, a 28-year-old engineer, said she was followed by a antheral erstwhile she got disconnected a minibus connected her mode to the train. She ran to instrumentality refuge successful the subway car reserved for women only. On different occasion, successful 1 of the city’s mixed subway cars, she said a antheral touched her inappropriately and, by the clip she reacted, helium was gone.

Cabrera, who present rides with AmorrAs, said she besides avoided wearing skirts and ne'er went anyplace without making definite that idiosyncratic she trusts was monitoring her travel — a communal internalized protocol for galore women successful Mexico.

“For me, AmorrAs represents being capable to bash things I couldn’t bash before," said Cabrera. "I truly bask going to concerts. It shouldn’t beryllium similar that but if it weren’t for them, I astir apt wouldn’t beryllium capable to bash it.”

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