Written by Fernanda Pesce
MEXICO CITY (AP) — When a male driver from a popular ride-hailing app asked Ninfa Fuentes for her phone number on a trip through Mexico City, she froze. But when he insisted on asking her repeatedly about her plans for Valentine’s Day, a torrent of terror ran through her body.
What should have been a peaceful ride home at the end of the workday three years ago turned into a nightmare that many women in Mexico live with every day: holding their breath until they know they’ve made it home alive.
“I felt like I was dying,” Fuentes, 48, said. The international economics researcher and survivor of sexual violence has not used public transport or app services since.
The conversation about alarming levels of sexual harassment and gender-based violence resurfaced with force this week after Mexico’s first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was caught on video being groped by a drunk man.
After the incident, Sheinbaum said she filed charges against the man and revealed a plan to make sexual harassment a crime in all Mexican states, in an attempt to make it easier to report such attacks on women in a country where 10 women are killed on average every day.
A safe space for women
After her terrifying ride-hailing experience, Fuentes turned to AmorrAs, a self-organized feminist network that provides safe transportation — and support — to women in Mexico City and its environs.
AmorrAs seeks to provide a solution to the endemic problem of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence that women routinely face on public transportation and in Mexico’s public transportation system.
The network was founded by Karina Alba, 29, following the 2022 murder of Depanhy Escobar, who was found dead days after getting out of a taxi on a dark road in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey.
Alba founded AmorrAs in hopes of providing safe rides for women, and chose her mother, taxi driver Ruth Rojas, as the network’s first female driver. It now has more than 20 “allied” drivers exclusively for women serving more than 2,000 passengers annually.
“My dream was to contribute in some way to society,” Alba said. “And I decided to do this by creating a safe space for women, where they can develop with dignity and without violence.”
Travel with an ally
One afternoon, Diane Colmenero, 38, received a WhatsApp message from Alba confirming that the woman who would pick her up was waiting for her at her workplace. At the other end, the passenger read a message that included the flight details, the name and number of her “ally” driver, and a reassuring pink heart emoji. Her “ally” driver will be with her soon.
For security reasons, women must schedule their trips with AmorrAs in advance by filling out a form. The price of each service varies depending on the distance traveled.
Colmenero, who works in marketing when he’s not driving with AmorrAs, stole a kiss from his partner and petted his old Yorkie before heading to one of the city’s financial districts.
“Before I was an AmorrAs allied driver, I faced violence on public transportation, on the subway and even in these taxis,” she said. “One time I had a driver who made me a partner and I was very afraid to travel with him… because he would say a lot of things, and he would hit women.”
Colmenero greeted his usual passenger, Ninfa Fuentes, with a warm hug. They talked about their families, the book Fuentes is writing, and their recent joint diagnosis of ADHD.
As the noise of traffic in the Mexican capital rocks the car, Fuentes looks out the window, confident she will get home safely.
History of violence against women
According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, 61,713 sexual crimes have been reported in Mexico so far in 2025, including 8,704 complaints of sexual harassment.
The National Observatory of Femicides says sex crimes in Mexico are the least reported because of the high level of stigma surrounding them and the lack of credibility authorities often give to women’s reports.
Lawyer Norma Escobar, 32, is teaming up with AmorrAs to provide legal support to women who claim they have been harassed or assaulted.
On more than one occasion, the lawyer said she heard how a forensic doctor from the Sexual Crimes Division of the Mexican State Attorney’s Office dismissed women who filed a sexual assault complaint, telling them, “Nothing happened to you, there were worse cases.”
Escobar, who handles harassment cases on the streets and on public transportation, said the absence of a coroner sometimes prevents women from filing a formal complaint.
After being contacted by The Associated Press, a spokesman for the Mexican state attorney general’s office said he was not aware of the doctor’s alleged suspension, but when the problems were discovered, the office took action against those involved.
Experts and human rights advocates say Mexico’s history of violence against women is rooted in deep-rooted cultural masculinity and systemic gender inequality, coupled with a problematic justice system.
“When the authorities see that the authorities are underestimating this, women become constrained and abandon their procedures,” Escobar said, noting that when it comes to ensuring women’s access to justice, “there is a lack of interest, commitment and professionalism on the part of the authorities.”
Travel with one hand on the door
Like many other women in Mexico, Nijoy Medb, 30, always traveled with her hand on the doorknob so she could escape if necessary. This is how Lydia Gabriela Gomez, 23, died in 2022, when she jumped from a moving taxi in Mexico City after the driver took a different route than the one she requested.
Maria Jose Cabrera, a 28-year-old engineer, said a man followed her when she got off a minibus on her way to the subway. She ran to take refuge in the women-only train car. On another occasion, on a mixed city subway car, she said a man touched her inappropriately, and by the time she responded, he was already gone.
Cabrera, who now travels with AmorrAs, said she also avoided wearing skirts and never went anywhere without making sure someone she trusted was monitoring her flight, a common protocol that many women in Mexico have internalized.
“For me, AmorrAs represents the ability to do things I couldn’t do before,” Cabrera said. “I love going to concerts. It shouldn’t be this way, but if it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it.”
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative AI tool.