Welcome to Querétaro City, Mexico!
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Nestled away in the state of Querétaro, this Mexican tourist town is home to beautiful landmarks, like its aqueducts…
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And old, historic streets filled with shops, restaurants and hotels.
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But there is a dirty little secret that just got blown wide open.
You’ll also find a developing scandal surrounding the local police chief, who created a women-only police unit that he hired based on physical appearance.
Female police officers in Mexican city say they have to pass a "hotness test": https://t.co/ibFRMk82M2 pic.twitter.com/BQJr0bHZ4U
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) April 11, 2016
Credit: @NYMag / Twitter
That’s right. Police chief Rolando Eugenio Hidalgo Eddy is accused of making young female police-force applicants to undergo “attractiveness tests.” Querétaro police have denied creating the new female-only unit. But this isn’t the first time the police chief has found himself in trouble, and for the same reason.
Rolando Eugenio Hidalgo Eddy was the law enforcement official behind a similar police unit in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Women wore high-heeled boots and leggings as part of the official uniform.
Female police officers subjected to 'attractiveness' inspections in Mexico https://t.co/yXpHrjQdUJ pic.twitter.com/lx3TLsZ9aH
— Global Issues Web (@globalissuesweb) April 8, 2016
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The women-only police force in Aguascalientes was disbanded in 2013 after being deemed less effective on crime. Its sole purpose was for women to be in charge of policing tourists.
The practice of hiring “pretty” girls for a tourist police force is already in use in some parts of Mexico, including Acapulco.
To join this police force in Mexico you have to be 'young, female and pretty' https://t.co/MbcDg0RS1h pic.twitter.com/6urmovSjyg
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) March 1, 2016
Credit: @MailOnline / Twitter
But the female police officers in Querétaro City were not having it. Two female officers filed complaints in response to the so-called attractiveness tests, which consisted of male officers critiquing female officers about their looks and weight while in uniform. According to The Guardian, one male officer told a female officer she was “pauchy” after being pregnant and losing her baby.
“For the first time in my job, I felt humiliated, sad and disappointed,” one female police officer said, according to documents obtained by an advocacy group called Coincidir Mujeres.
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“The women said, ‘I trained to be a police officer, not a showgirl,’” Maricruz Ocampo, of Coincidir Mujeres, told The Guardian.
Several people in Mexico, including security analyst Jorge Kawas of Monterrey, are speaking out against hiring female police officers based on appearance. Kawas told The Guardian that the hiring practices of Hidalgo Eddy are not only discriminatory, but that there isn’t evidence that it actually works.
You can read the full document below.
Les compartimos el testimonio de una mujer policía de Querétaro:
“Como ganado, pasamos por varios escrutinios, primero…Posted by Coincidir Mujeres on Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Credit: Coincidir Mujeres / Facebook
(H/T: The Guardian)
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