Misogyny and sexual assault on women have become a deeply ingrained male perversion across the globe. Neither the so-called developed nor developing countries are immune to this vice, which does not seem to accept geographical frontiers. But when the body of the highest functionary of a country – a President – is subjected to similar violation in full public view, it means something is terribly wrong in the male psyche that centuries of education and refinement have failed to redress.
No wonder the recent sexual assault on Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, has caused outrage domestically and internationally. A drunken man tried to kiss her neck and grabbed her chest from behind as she spoke to citizens in the capital’s streets while making a shortcut to a ministry building. The horrendous crime was captured on camera, and the picture went viral as proof that no woman is safe. The fact that even the most powerful person of a country was not spared by a man who felt entitled to grope her in public shows how deep rooted the malaise is. The remark of Sheinbaum herself said it all when she wondered, “If they do this to the President, then what will happen to all the young women in our country?” One in five girls and women in Mexico said they had experienced sexual violence in some form or the other.
In fact, Sheinbaum, like others, had noted before such a state of affairs, but is unable to curb the menace. Now she has herself become a victim. The irony is that as Mayor of Mexico City in the past, she had referred to demonstrations by feminists against gender-based violence as “provocations” and indirectly endorsed police crackdown on the women protesters. The violation of her own body seems to have woken her up so much that she immediately termed it a criminal act. The offender was arrested, and criminal proceedings have started. The Opposition in Mexico tried to give an unwarranted political spin to the reprehensible act while misogyny continues to shape political life across Latin America. This has prompted several countries in the continent to take positive legislative measures for gender equality. Over the past two decades, the region has implemented some of the world’s most ambitious gender-parity laws. Countries including Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina have introduced sweeping legislative reforms. Maybe for this reason, Latin America consistently ranks among the regions with the highest proportions of women in national legislatures. The region has also produced several high-profile female heads of state.
In addition to Sheinbaum of Mexico, there has been Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Argentina and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. There could have been one more addition to the list – this year’s Nobel Peace laureate, Maria Corina Machado, who might have been President of Venezuela had the elections gone in a different way in that country. Yet, these advances have not prevented virulent misogynistic backlash as the presence of women in power seems to be a grave threat to male domination in political life.
Feminist scholars describe this phenomenon as “gendered political violence” which is not confined to physical assault alone. It also manifests in smear campaigns, sexualised caricature, digital harassment and threats targeting both female politicians and their families. It is still fresh in public memory how US President Donald Trump betrayed his misogyny when he used a plethora of epithets during his presidential campaign to attack his opponent Kamala Harris. In India, however, political leaders and parties seem very keen to extend sops to women voters as they seem more dependable as a support base.
Sheinbaum’s encounter illustrates this tendency with unusual clarity. The groping was not merely an act of individual misconduct but a symbolic assertion of power over a woman whose very position challenges longstanding gendered expectations. Research conducted in Quito (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Santiago (Chile) indicates that street harassment is a pervasive facet of everyday life for women in the region’s cities. If such a comparative study could be conducted in India, results may expose a far worse situation prevailing here. The study might show that in India, it is not only groping but also terrible violence on the victim becomes a corollary. India too needs to revisit its laws, actions and inactions on violence against women post haste.