MEXICO CITY (AP) — When a male driver for a popular ride-sharing app asked Ninfa Fuentes for her phone number during a ride. mexico cityshe froze. But when he kept confronting her about his plans for Valentine’s Day, fear washed through her body.
Three years ago, what was supposed to be a peaceful ride home after work turned into the nightmare that many women in Mexico experience every day. You have to hold your breath until you know you made it home alive.
“I felt like I was going to die,” said Fuentes, 48. The international economics researcher and survivor of sexual violence has not used public transportation or ride-hailing services since then.
shocking levels of sexual harassment gender-based violence There was another uproar this week after Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was caught on video. molested by a drunk man.
After the incident, Mr. Sheinbaum said: she sued the man He announced plans to criminalize sexual harassment in all Mexican states. This is an effort to make it easier for women to report such assaults in countries where they occur. An average of 10 women are murdered every day.
A safe space for women
After a frightening experience with a ride-sharing app, Fuentes turned to AmorrAs, a self-managed feminist network that provides safe transportation and support to women in Mexico City and its suburbs.
AmorrAs seeks to provide a solution to the endemic problem of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence that women face on a daily basis on ride-sharing apps and public transportation in Mexico.
The network was founded by 29-year-old Karina Alba. Devani Escobar murder in 2022His body was found days after getting out of a taxi on a dark highway north of Monterrey.
Alba founded AmorrAs with the desire to provide safe transportation for women, and selected her mother, taxi driver Ruth Rojas, to be the network’s first driver. The network currently has more than 20 female-only “ally” drivers, serving more than 2,000 women annually.
“My dream was to contribute to society in some way,” Alba said. “We chose to do so by creating a safe space where women can live free from violence and with dignity.”
ride with friends
On a recent afternoon, Dian Colmenero, 38, received a WhatsApp message from Alba confirming that the woman she was supposed to drive was waiting for her at work. On the receiving end, passengers read out a message with trip details, the name and number of their “ally” driver, and a reassuring pink heart emoji. Her “ally” driver is also expected to arrive soon.
For safety reasons, women must fill out a form in advance to schedule a ride at AmorrAs. The cost of each ride varies depending on the distance traveled.
Colmenero, who works in marketing when he’s not driving with Amors, stole a kiss from his partner and stroked his elderly Yorkie before heading out to one of the city’s financial districts.
“Before driving with AmorrAs, I experienced violence on public transit, on the subway, and even on ride-hailing apps,” she said. “Once I had to ride with a driver and he told me and my partner that he had hit some women.”
Colmenero greeted regular passenger Ninfa Fuentes with a warm hug. They talked about their family, the book Fuentes is writing, and his recently shared ADHD diagnosis.
As the traffic noise of Mexico’s capital rattled his car, Fuentes stared out the window, confident he would make it home safely.
History of violence against women
According to the National Public Security System Secretariat, 61,713 sexual crimes will be reported in Mexico by 2025, including 8,704 reports of sexual harassment.
The National Femicide Citizen Observatory says sex crimes in Mexico are the least reported because the stigma surrounding them is so strong and the lack of credibility of authorities often extends to women reporting them.
Norma Escobar, 32, a lawyer, works with AmorrAs to provide legal assistance to women who say they have been harassed or assaulted.
Escobar said she has repeatedly heard forensic scientists in the Mexican State Attorney General’s Office’s Sex Crimes Division dismiss women who have filed sexual assault complaints, saying, “Nothing happened to you. There were worse things.”
Escobar, who handles harassment cases on the streets and on public transport, said the absence of a forensic doctor sometimes prevents women from filing formal reports.
A spokeswoman for Mexico’s attorney general’s office told The Associated Press that she had no knowledge of the doctor’s alleged comments, but that the agency had taken action against those involved after it became aware of the issue.
Experts and advocates say Mexico’s history of violence against women is rooted in deep cultural masculinity and systemic gender inequality, along with a troubled justice system.
“Women often give up on their cases when they see the authorities disrespecting justice,” Escobar said, adding that there is “a lack of interest, commitment and professionalism on the part of the authorities” when it comes to ensuring women’s access to justice.
ride with your hand on the door
Like many other women in Mexico, Nejoy Medeb, 30, always traveled with her hand on the door handle, ready to escape if necessary. In 2022, 23-year-old Lydia Gabriela Gómez jumped to her death from a taxi in Mexico City after the driver took a different route than she had requested.
Maria Jose Cabrera, a 28-year-old engineer, said she was followed by a man as she got off a minibus on her way to the train. She ran and took shelter in a women-only subway car. On another occasion, she said a man touched her inappropriately in a mixed-gender subway car in the city, and by the time she responded, he was gone.
Cabrera, who now rides with AmorrAs, said she also avoided wearing skirts and never went anywhere without making sure someone she trusted was monitoring her journey. This is a common internalized habit for many Mexican women.
“For me, AmorrAs is about being able to do things that I couldn’t do before,” Cabrera said. “I really enjoy going to concerts. It’s not supposed to be that way, but if it wasn’t for concerts, I might not have been able to do it.”
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