What is the importance of the Olimpia Law approved in some states of México

The Olimpia Law was first approved in Puebla, México, in December 2018 thanks to the efforts of Olimpia Coral Melo, an 18-year-old woman of digital violence when a sex video in which she appeared was published on the internet. 

According to Expansión Política, since that moment 15 states have made modifications to their criminal codes, typifying digital violence as a crime. 

Digital violence is defined by the Olimpia Law as “acts of harassment, threat, violation of data and private information, as well as the dissemination of sexual content without consent and through social networks, undermining integrity, freedom, private life, and rights, mainly of women”. 

The 2015 INEGI Cyberbullying Module shows that at least 9 million Mexicans have lived cyberbullying and according to data from the National Survey on Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households, young women between 12 and 29 years are the most attacked in digital spaces. Of the attacks, 86.3% is committed by unknown persons and 11.1% by acquaintances.

The law establishes that “those who use broadcasting, telecommunications, computer or any other means of data transmission to contact a person under 18 years of age, who does not have the ability to understand the meaning of the event or a person who does not have ability to resist it, and require or share images, audio or video of explicit sexual activities, acts of sexual connotation or request a sexual encounter, what is known with the concept of grooming” will be imprisoned. 

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As read on El Sol de México, a penalty of six years will be imposed on those who share, distribute, reproduce, market, exchange and share the content of a person's intimate sexual content without written consent. The penalties could be higher when the person committing the crime is a victim's relative or when there is a sentimental, educational or labor relationship.

In an interview with Expansión Politica, local deputy Alessandra Rojo de la Vega, who promoted this reform in the Congress of Mexico City, defended that the "Olimpia Law" is a great achievement and an important step to "be calmer."

The National Sorority Front, founded by Olimpia Coral, emphasizes that there is nothing wrong with practices such as sexting, as long as it is with the consent of the people involved, highlighting the fact that women have right to a sexual life free of violence. 

“Modifying the laws helps to demonstrate and punish gender violence, but the road does not end there. The aggressors will continue to be part of society even when the legal penalty reaches them. Another focus of the fight must be the social awareness of why harassing social networks or exposing the intimacy of women is also violence, ”Ana Celorio Baquedano, a Mexican feminist activist, told El Economista.0