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- AmorrAs seeks to offer a solution to the endemic problem of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence that women routinely face on Mexico’s rideshare apps and public transit
MEXICO CITY: When a male driver from a popular rideshare app asked Ninfa Fuentes for her phone number during a ride through Mexico City, she froze. But when he repeatedly pressed her about her Valentine’s Day plans, a rush of terror flooded her body.
What should have been a quiet ride home at the end of the workday three years ago turned into a nightmare that many women in Mexico experience daily: holding their breath until they know they’ve made it home alive.
“I felt like I was dying,” Fuentes, 48, said. An international economics researcher and a survivor of sexual violence, she has not used public transportation or ride-hailing services since.
The conversation around startling levels of sexual harassment and gender-based violence came roaring back this week after Mexico’s first woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum, was captured in video being groped by a drunk man.
Following the incident, Sheinbaum said she had pressed charges against the man and unveiled a plan to make sexual harassment a crime across all Mexican states — a bid to make it easier for women to report such assaults in a country where an average of 10 women are killed daily.
A safe space for women
After her frightening rideshare app experience, Fuentes turned to AmorrAs, a self-managed feminist network that provides safe transportation — and support — for women in Mexico City and its suburbs.
AmorrAs seeks to offer a solution to the endemic problem of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence that women routinely face on Mexico’s rideshare apps and public transit.
The network was founded by 29-year-old Karina Alba following the 2022 killing of Debanhi Escobar, who was found dead days after getting out of a taxi on a dark highway in the northern city of Monterrey.
Alba founded AmorrAs with the hope of providing safe rides for women, choosing her mother, taxi driver Ruth Rojas, to be the network’s first driver. The network now has more than 20 women-only “ally” drivers, serving more than 2,000 women per year.
“My dream was to contribute to society in some way,” said Alba. “I decided to do so by creating a safe space for women, one where they can live with dignity and free from violence.”
Riding with an ally
On a recent afternoon, 38-year-old Dian Colmenero received a WhatsApp message from Alba confirming that the woman she was going to drive was waiting at her workplace. On the receiving end, the passenger read a message with the trip details, her “ally” driver’s name and number, and a reassuring pink heart emoji. Her “ally” driver would be with her soon.
For security reasons, women have to schedule their rides with AmorrAs in advance by filling a form. The price for each ride then varies based on the distance traveled.
Colmenero, who works in marketing when she is not driving with AmorrAs, stole a kiss from her partner, petted her old Yorkie before heading out to one of the city’s financial districts.
“Before driving with AmorrAs, I had experienced violence on public transport, on the subway, and even with ride-hailing apps,” she said. “I once had to ride with a driver who told me and my partner that he had beaten up several women.”
Colmenero greeted her regular passenger, Ninfa Fuentes, with a warm hug. They chatted about their families, the book Fuentes is writing and their shared recent ADHD diagnosis.
As the noise of the capital’s traffic rattles the car, Fuentes peers out the window, confident that she will arrive home safe and sound.
A history of violence against women
According to the National Public Security System’s Executive Secretariat, Mexico has reported 61,713 sex crimes so far in 2025, including 8,704 reports of sexual harassment.
The National Citizen Observatory on Femicide says sex crimes in Mexico are the least reported due to the high level of stigma surrounding them and the lack of credibility authorities often extend to women’s reports.
Lawyer Norma Escobar, 32, collaborates with AmorrAs, offering legal support to women who say they have been harassed or assaulted.
On more than one occasion, Escobar said she heard a forensic doctor in the gender crimes department of the Mexico state’s Attorney General’s Office dismiss women filing a sexual assault complaint, telling them “Nothing has happened to you, there have been worse cases.”
Escobar, who handles harassment cases on the street and on public transportation, said that the absence of a forensic doctor has on occasions prevented women from officially filing a report.
A spokesperson from Mexico state’s Attorney General’s Office, when reached by The Associated Press, said they had no knowledge of the doctor’s alleged comment, but when problems have been discovered the office has taken action against those involved.
Experts and advocates say the history of violence against women in Mexico is rooted in deep-seated cultural machismo and systemic gender inequality, alongside a justice system riddled with problems.
“Seeing that the authorities downplay it, women end up often giving up on their cases,” said Escobar, noting that when it comes to ensuring women’s access to justice, “there is a lack of attention, commitment and professionalism from authorities.”
Riding with a hand on the door
Like many other women in Mexico, Nejoi Meddeb, 30, always traveled with her hand locked on the door handle so she could escape if needed. That is how 23-year-old Lidia Gabriela Gómez died in 2022 when she jumped out of a moving taxi in Mexico City after the driver took a different route than the one she had requested.
Maria José Cabrera, a 28-year-old engineer, said she was followed by a man when she got off a minibus on her way to the train. She ran to take refuge in the subway car reserved for women only. On another occasion, in one of the city’s mixed subway cars, she said a man touched her inappropriately and, by the time she reacted, he was gone.
Cabrera, who now rides with AmorrAs, said she also avoided wearing skirts and never went anywhere without making sure that someone she trusts was monitoring her journey — a common internalized protocol for many women in Mexico.
“For me, AmorrAs represents being able to do things I couldn’t do before,” said Cabrera. “I really enjoy going to concerts. It shouldn’t be like that but if it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it.”