UN Women and the Government of Mexico City launch the campaign #NoEsDeHombres to tackle sexual harassment in public transport

UN Women, in partnership with the Government of Mexico City launched a campaign to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women in public transport in Mexico City as part of the Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for women and girls programme.

The official launch of the campaign was attended by Ana Güezmes García, Representative of UN Women in Mexico; Patricia Mercado, the Deputy Mayor of Mexico City; Teresa Incháustegui, Director of the Mexico City Gender Equality Mechanism; Gabriel Vázquez, the Creative Director/Vice President of J.Walter Thompson; Tamara de Anda, Blogger and Journalist; Alfonso Herrera, Actor; El Hijo del Santo, Mexican Wrestler and; Francisco Palencia, Technical Director of Pumas football team.

Globally, studies show that 50-100 per cent of women have been victims of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women in public spaces. In Mexico City, according to the national violence against women survey (ENDRIEH) carried out by the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the forms of violence that were most frequently reported were offensive or sexualized comments (74 per cent), unwanted touching and groping (58 per cent), fear of being assaulted or abused (14 per cent). According to the National Survey of Victimization and Perceptions of Safety (ENVIPE 2016), 87.7 per cent of women aged 18 years and over feel unsafe in public transport and 79.4 per cent feel unsafe on the streets in Mexico City.

Sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence are a global pandemic that continue to be under-recognized. Men often normalize their violence, women often do not report, and there are insufficient interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence. Violence against women and girls violates their freedom of movement, their ability to participate in education, work and public life. This is a universal problem that occurs in both developed and developing countries and there is no city in the world that is free of this scourge.

Read the full story on UN Women's regional website for Latin America and the Caribbean.