Breach-Valdez prize goes to an investigation into sexual violence in Mexico's armed forces

1 November 2026

The 2026 Breach-Valdez Award for Journalism and Human Rights has gone to the Mexican reporter Zorayda Gallegos.
Her report, Sexual violence in the barracks: an X-ray of impunity, followed more than 520 women who had complained of sexual offences in Mexico's armed forces over twelve years.
Only three per cent of those cases ended in a conviction.
The report describes the problem as structural, reaching into military schools and hospitals, and says the steep chain of command leaves women soldiers exposed to their superiors.
It also finds that women are often moved into nursing and care work although they are qualified for higher posts.
Gallegos says more women in senior military, judicial and prosecution posts would help break the pattern.
UNESCO counts 154 journalists murdered in Mexico over the past twenty years and eight so far in 2026, and ranks the country among the most dangerous in the world for the press.