Claudia Sheinbaum, inaugurated this week as Mexico’s first female president, announced a series of reforms aimed at advancing women’s rights amid the country’s high rates of gender violence.
On her second full day in office, Sheinbaum proposed measures to ensure equal pay for equal work, with women currently earning just 65 pesos for every 100 pesos a man makes, as per data from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.
The reform package includes a constitutional guarantee of freedom from violence and mandates gender parity in government cabinets at both state and federal levels. It involves amending six constitutional articles and seven secondary laws, with expected approval in Congress, where Sheinbaum’s party, Morena, holds a substantial majority.
Sheinbaum, a former mayor of Mexico City and ally of ex-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, stated that the reforms are crucial for empowering women to recognise their rights and identify instances of gender-based discrimination. She vowed to establish a “women’s bill of rights” to promote awareness.
During the announcement, Sheinbaum emphasised that wage disparities and violence against women stem from systemic discrimination. Her cabinet includes Mexico’s first women’s minister, who presented the reform proposals during a press conference.
While progress has been made in increasing women’s representation in government and public roles—evident in the appointment of the first female Supreme Court chief justice and the first woman governor of the central bank—violence against women remains a pervasive issue. A 2022 survey found that over 70% of women and girls aged 15 and older reported experiencing violence, a four-percentage-point increase from 2016.
High murder rates of women and the associated impunity have led to widespread protests, with government data indicating that an average of 9 to 10 women are killed daily, alongside tens of thousands reported missing.
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