March 8, the official day for the vindication of equality between men and women, is a commemoration of the struggle that women have had throughout the centuries to achieve their rights and develop in a society that is equitable and just.
When talking about women’s rights, the two pillars that make up this catalog cannot be left out: equality and the elimination of violence. Conventional and, therefore, constitutional and legislative development follows both aspects, so women’s participation in electoral processes cannot be lost.
For more than a century, Mexican women have fought a long battle for full recognition of their political rights. Their right to vote and be voted for was hindered for decades by marginal ideas and statements, but with strength and perseverance women have managed to achieve many of the desired goals.
Over the years, the recognition of equality in the normative treatment of both women and men has been achieved, in this sense, the legal norm must recognize the difference in order to ensure the development of women in society and not the opposite. Therefore, we must point out that parity democracy should seek equal participation of both men and women in the political sector, through the mechanisms determined by each democratic system.
In Mexico, gender parity is a constitutional principle, defined as the balanced participation and representation of women and men in positions of power and decision-making in all spheres of life. It is an indicator to measure the democratic quality of countries, and in Mexico it seeks to guarantee the participation of 50% of men and 50% of women in current spaces of public power.
In June 2019, the reform to 10 articles of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States came into force, through which it was ensured that half of the decision-making positions are for women in the three branches of government, in the three orders of government, in autonomous bodies, in the candidacies of political parties for popularly elected positions, as well as in the election of representatives to municipal councils in municipalities with indigenous population; in addition, language that makes visible and includes women is incorporated.
By way of example, I show some of the changes to certain texts in articles of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States:
Article 35.- The rights of citizenship:
…
To be able to vote in conditions of parity for all popularly elected positions, having the qualifications established by law. The right to request the registration of candidates before the electoral authority corresponds to political parties, as well as to citizens who request their registration independently and comply with the requirements, conditions and terms determined by law;
Article 94..- […]
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation will be composed of eleven members, Ministers and Justices, and will function in Plenary or in Chambers.
Thus, the purpose of this reform is to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men to participate in elections and to compete for elected office. However, to this day, there are still many obstacles to really make it effective, because true parity not only implies that women are 50% of those who make decisions, but that they do so without any type of discrimination or violence, both considered as the main reasons for the feminist movement in our country.
To this end, policies have been created to eradicate political violence, so that it does not become the cost that women have to pay for participating in decision-making, but rather the cost of violating the exercise of rights is transferred to the candidates who exercise violence by annulling their nominations and the right of the parties to replace them.
Despite the progress that has been made in this area, we still do not have true equality in terms of the positions held by women in politics, women must still be provided with sufficient tools to confront gender-based political violence, and there must be zero tolerance for political violence against women and sufficient means and support to be able to confront the circumstances that promote it, or to denounce the facts that have occurred in this regard.
In the end, the great aspiration is, with the effort of all, to consolidate a democratic country, where both men and women have the same rights, the same economic, social, cultural and political opportunities.
Andrea Jacobs Cuenca
