In Mexico's armed forces, an order from a superior is meant to be obeyed without question. For many women in uniform, investigative journalist Zorayda Gallegos found, that can include an order to step into an officer's bedroom.
"If an officer says, 'Come into my bedroom,' she must go in, otherwise she would be disobeying an order from her superior," she told UN News.
Her investigation into sexual violence inside the military has won her the 2026 Breach/Valdez Award for Journalism and Human Rights. It has also made her a target, in one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a reporter.
Her story, told ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on Monday, shows both why a free press matters and how much it can cost.
An X-ray of impunity
Her report, Sexual violence in the barracks: an X-ray of impunity, tracked more than 520 women who reported sexual offences over a 12-year period.
Only three per cent of those cases ended in a conviction. The other 97 per cent led to no effective sanctions.
This is not an isolated problem, Ms. Gallegos says, but a structural one. It reaches beyond the barracks into military schools and hospitals.
She also documented how high-ranking officials cover up abuse, and how gender inequality and institutional obstacles discourage victims from filing complaints at all.
Taught to follow orders
For Ms. Gallegos, part of the problem starts with military training itself, which she describes as "a very hierarchical, top-down system where women are always taught to follow orders from their superiors".
That leaves female soldiers vulnerable to the very officers they answer to.
Deep-rooted sexism makes things worse, she maintains, shaping who gets which jobs and who gets promoted. Female soldiers are often assigned tasks associated with "caregiving and nursing, even though they are qualified for higher-ranking positions," she explains.
Forgive, forget, carry on
Women who do get their cases to court risk being victimised all over again. Some judicial rulings, she found, contain sexist remarks or lack any gender perspective.
Inside the institution, she says, the psychological support offered to complainants is geared towards getting them to forgive their aggressors, forget what happened and carry on with their military careers.
The men accused, meanwhile, are often given recommendations rather than punishments - "that's the maximum", Ms. Gallegos alleges.
To break the cycle of silence and impunity, she believes more women are needed in senior military leadership and decision-making roles, and in the judiciary and prosecution services.
Uncomfortable truths
Exposing all this has come at a personal cost. Ms. Gallegos has faced intimidating remarks, veiled threats and pressure because of her work.
She still defends the right to publish information in the public interest, and to report independently and impartially.
In Mexico, that takes courage. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) regularly highlights the country as one of the deadliest in the world for the press, even though it is not officially at war.
Collusion between organized crime and local authorities is a serious threat to reporters, and its effects are felt at every level of the justice system. Journalists investigating politics or crime face threats, kidnapping, enforced disappearance and murder, and many are forced to flee abroad.
Deadly profession
According to UNESCO which tallies threats to media workers worldwide, 154 journalists have been murdered in Mexico in the past 20 years.
The agency has confirmed that eight journalists have been murdered in Mexico so far in 2026.
Press freedom groups including Article 19 and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) put the toll at nine, after the killing of Hamurabi Huesca Manzano in Oaxaca on 9 October.
The award Ms. Gallegos won carries the names of two of those killed. Miroslava Breach and Javier Valdez were assassinated because of their work.
"They always stood for brave journalism, rooted in their communities and committed to telling uncomfortable truths. Until it cost them their lives. That should never have happened," she said.
