The deputy of Movimiento Ciudadano, Melisa Peña, presented three initiatives to reform the Penal Code, the State Sports Law, and another related to girls, boys, and adolescents, in response to recent cases of sexual abuse in the sports field. One of the key points of her proposal is that perpetrators of abuse against minors in the sports world should be completely excluded from activities related to children.
Peña emphasized the importance of protecting minors and proposed the implementation of protocols so that minors can report abuses safely. She pointed out that it is essential for children to feel in an environment of trust and safety to be able to speak about situations of abuse.
The legislator highlighted the need to reform the current regulations, since the Penal Code does not classify the fact that a coach can assault a minor. Peña stressed the existing legal imbalance in this regard and proposed that penalties for abusive coaches be adjusted to the severity of the crimes, reaching even up to 30 years of imprisonment in cases of serious sexual abuse.
One of the cases that motivated these proposals was that of a coach in Nuevo León who, despite having been previously reported for abuse, was able to return to the sports world and allegedly commit new crimes. Peña emphasized the need to protect minors from potential perpetrators who may relapse in their actions.
In this sense, the deputy highlighted the importance of ensuring that sports spaces are safe and healthy environments for all children and adolescents. Her goal is to promote awareness of the protection of minors and prevent cases of abuse from going unpunished in the sports field, where the trust relationship between coach and student can be exploited to commit acts of violence.
