INE and TEPJF commemorate the 69th anniversary of women’s vote in Mexico

Within the framework of the 69th anniversary of the women’s vote in Mexico, the Electoral Court of the Judicial Power of the Federation (TEPJF) and the National Electoral Institute (INE) held forums to analyze the progress and challenges for the consolidation of women’s participation in politics.

At the headquarters of INEpolitician, researcher and activist Marcela Lagarde He said that despite the progress made in terms of parity, equality in democracy and the eradication of political violence against women and violence against girls have not been achieved.

When giving the conference “The political rights of women from a feminist perspective”, he maintained that a fundamental requirement to advance in the elimination of violence is that it not be perceived as an isolated event.

How to pretend that women do not experience violence in a country that has this brutal degree of violence, with men, with women, with girls”, questioned Lagarde.

Lagarde lamented acts of violence not only against women, but against men, “we are a country of massacres, we are a country of memorials, because we have memory and we do not want it to be forgotten, that is why we voted on October 2, it is not forgotten, the 43 are not forgotten and the 17 or 15 from Totolapan, Guerrero, are not forgotten”.

“Violence against women and girls requires a structural treatment, this violence is not foreign, it is constitutive and to achieve its eradication we need to do politics and have rights. Thanks to the fact that the women’s vote was recognized 69 years ago, we commemorate that wonderful anniversary for the life and freedom of women and girls and of all children and youth and men and women, the right to live in peace,” he stated.

In this sense, he said that femicide is a State crime, “because it is involved in the reproduction of violence and in the reproduction of inequalities.”

Lagarde celebrated the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violencesince it establishes the right to name this political violence as a crime “allows us to prevent, identify, counteract and democratically oppose this violence,” he pointed out.

For his part, the president counselor Lorenzo Córdova Vianello established that “the fight for democracy is also a fight for feminism, and the fight for feminism is also a fight for democracy”, so the feminist agenda is the defense of democracy against the winds of regression that are in the world.

The 69th anniversary of the women’s vote, she added, is a day to celebrate progress, but also to raise the challenges of which she mentioned three, such as the lack of parity at the municipal level, political violence that continues to be a pending issue and the one that “democracy is either feminist or it is not democracy”.

Meanwhile, the president of the Commission for Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination of the INENorma De la Cruz Magaña stressed the importance of continuing to advance and transform so that the full exercise of citizenship rights occurs in freedom and in peace.

He agreed with Lagarde in changing the patterns of social, structural behavior that allow mechanisms of discrimination and exclusion to continue reproducing, “depatriarchalize politics, not only when voting, but also when exercising office” .

For its part, at the headquarters of the TEPJF In collaboration with the Interinstitutional Committee for Gender Equality of the Judicial Power of the Federation, the INE and the National Women’s Institute, a forum for reflection was held on the contributions of women leaders to consolidate gender parity in the representative bodies at the federal, local and municipal levels, the advances and challenges of public policies on equality that guarantee women’s access to positions of popular election and the performance of the position in contexts free of political violence based on gender .

In the forum called69th Anniversary of the Women’s Vote in Mexico. From the right to vote to full parity, on the way to substantive equality”, the participants discussed in three work panels on the strengthening of the linkage of the institutions with various audiences, promoting the dissemination of the work carried out in favor of the political-electoral rights of women.

The presiding magistrate of TEPJFReyes Rodríguez Mondragón, stressed that the status of women defines that of democracy, so their exclusion from decision-making positions is a reflection of a flawed democracy, while their inclusion strengthens it with their voice and perspectives.

Rodríguez Mondragón said that the electoral Tribunal will continue working so that the equality embodied in the Constitution is effective for women, and pointed out that just as women’s right to vote was specified, parity in the political sphere is a new opportunity to bet on unity around the causes of equality, justice and freedom.

In turn, the magistrate Monica Soto She said that women not only want to influence, but also decide in positions of power, for which the administrative and judicial electoral institutions are obliged to ensure that affirmative actions are fulfilled and reflected in daily life.

The Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Yasmin Esquivel Mossastressed that although parity is a reality today, there are still resistances that are reflected mainly in political violence against women based on gender, which, he said, should be combated and paid attention to from the institutions, citizens and courts.

Democracy, she stressed, is not complete if the participation of women in public office and decision-making is not respected.

The magistrate of TEPJF, José Luis Vargas Valdez, said that in the last 69 years there has been a slow transition in the culture of parity, which is why it is necessary to transform gender quotas into a natural and not compulsory issue. He recognized that the constitutional norms on the matter have been essential for progress, although there is an absence of a culture of parity where women have not been accompanied in their struggle by men.

Meanwhile, the owner of the Inwomen, Nadine Gasman Zylbermannsaid that the commitment is really to achieve substantive equality by closing the inequality gaps.

He argued that the goal is parity in everything: to have equal and diverse legislatures and governments where there are indigenous, rural, Afro women and all diversity. It is important, she added, to create the conditions so that parity in everything becomes normal and that changes can be made.

The counselor of the Federal Judiciary and member of the Interinstitutional Committee for Gender Equality of the Judicial Power of the Federation, Eva Veronica de Gyves Zaratehighlighted that the constitutional reform that allowed women the right to vote has been one of the most relevant in the country because it raised awareness of their value in public life.

Francisco Gerardo Waitress Espinozawho attended on behalf of UN Women in Mexicoassured that the full participation of women in the public life of the country is essential for the existence of the strengthening of democracy, since their greater participation in public positions means that they can influence public policies and the existence of more inclusive for the benefit of the country.

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