Mexico City hands out whistles as a low-tech weapon against sexual harassment

The government of Mexico City is generally recognized as being among the most progressive in the country when it comes to issues such as gay rights and sexual and reproductive rights. But some of the government’s well-intended efforts look like a swing and a miss.

That was the case with the latest social awareness campaign by Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera to give women pink-colored whistles to combat sexual harassment when riding the subway or other public transportation means. This “first phase” plan comes in response to several protests demanding that the government of Mexico City do more to counter a rising wave of violence against women.

“This will give an alert signal to society that we can’t remain indifferent,” Mancera said at a press conference Wednesday, while holding up one of thousands of whistles his administration plans to hand out to women in coming days.

Mancera said men can also get a black-colored whistle.

Mayor Mancera’s whistleblowing initiative has quickly made him the laughing stock on Mexican social media, which unleashed a flurry of tweets and memes under the derisive hashtag El Pito de Mancera— a double entendre that means “Mancera’s whistle” or “Mancera’s dick.”

“Mancera’s whistle: cutting edge technology to eradicate crime and abuses against women.”