Mexico’s Expanded Sexual Abuse Law: A Step Forward With Critical Flaws That Demand Oversight

In a unanimous vote, Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies has expanded the legal framework defining sexual abuse, explicitly ruling out silence or lack of resistance as consent. This move appears progressive on paper, signaling an important recognition that victims’ rights must be safeguarded even when they cannot physically resist. However, while applauding this step forward, we must also scrutinize its real-world implications—and what it means in the broader fight for individual sovereignty and public safety. Does Broadening Definitions Without Strong Enforcement Truly Serve Justice? The revised articles 260 and 266 bis of Mexico’s Federal Penal Code now define sexual abuse to...