Presentation to the Informal Hearings with NGOs

Summary of the Shadow Report for CEDAW

TO ERADICATE THE DISCRIMINATION OF WOMEN IN MEXICO : A LIE  

Thank you Madam Chair, I am honoured to address the Committee on the Sixth Periodic Report submitted by the Government of Mexico. I am Teresa Ulloa, the Regional Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Girls for Latin America and the Caribbean , and I speak as the coordinator of the Shadow Report. This shadow report drafted by 12 NGOs contains 10 Chapters on very critical areas of systemic discrimination against women in my country.

As an introduction, I would like to mention the study “Empowerment of Women: Measuring Gender Inequality at Global Level” carried out last year by the World Economic Forum, that evaluated the progress of gender equality, and demonstrated that Mexico ranks 52 out of 58 selected countries regarding inequalities in the gender gap between women and men. This estimate illustrates the inaction and absence of progress in Mexico in reducing gender discrimination and inequality: the essential rights of women are not respected; they encounter a lack of opportunities, feminization of poverty, and gender violence and discrimination. Mexico does not label its’ budgets to reduce gender inequality or to prove its concern in implementing gender mainstreaming policies.

Several points presented in this report are extremely troublesome and need affirmative responses and concrete immediate actions. First, access to justice is not efficiently available for Mexican women, especially concerning domestic violence cases where a great difference exists between the civil and criminal laws and judicial resolutions obtained by the plaintiffs . Laws, legal practices and proceedings in Mexico cannot continue to be gender neutral, because they deny women access to justice.

We present three cases, one which was presented four years ago in the corresponding Shadow Report, the murder of Guadalupe Sánchez Salas, which has not yet concluded after 7 years, proving how criminal justice is not expedited for female victims in Mexico . Also, there is the case of Norma Angélica Ponce Proo, who was a victim of severe forms of violence, including rape, for 13 years. She has been in hiding for one year with her two young sons, waiting for justice and trying to recover their legal custody.

Also, Mexico does not comply with Article 6 of CEDAW. For eradicating exploitation of prostitution and trafficking in women and girls for the sex industry, it is necessary to include measures to discourage the demand and effectively prosecute pimps and traffickers. In Mexico there are no transverse policies to combat the root causes of this modern form of slavery and violence against women and girls. Although there are no official statistics, a recent report presented by the UN, noted that 87 per cent of victims of trafficking are for the sex industry and 90 per cent of who are women and girls, and Mexico ranks 5 th in Latin America . In Mexico there is no protection and assistance for victims of trafficking, they are treated as offenders.

Mexico is a source, transit, and destination country for international trafficking, but we also have internal trafficking. There are several local laws and decrees that regulate prostitution, which perpetuates stereotypes, and reduce women’s bodies to commodities, but also violates the 1949 Convention. Corruption and chains of complicity are constant, and we included the case of Lydia Cacho and her illegal apprehension ordered by the Governor of Puebla with the complicity of important politicians and businesspersons as an example. This case has been under investigation by the Supreme Court of Justice for the past six months ago, and the Governor Marín is still functioning in his job.

Finally, the rural and indigenous women are the most poor and excluded sector of the Mexican society, and live with gender violence and discrimination normalized as an intrinsic social accepted model. Indigenous women are the principle victims of militarization, especially in the states of Chiapas , Oaxaca , Guerrero, and Veracruz . The Mexican State has not put in place effective measures to transform cultural discriminating behaviours and practices. The rural and indigenous women of Michoacán, are in extreme poverty and because of migration of their couples, they remain as head of their families, with very little or no working opportunities.

The remaining chapters were already presented by my Mexican sisters.

In conclusion, the Mexican State does not fully comply with CEDAW; every four years the Government presents programs in favour of women, but it never reports the qualitative results. We would like to know what affirmative actions have been implemented during the last four years to eradicate discrimination against women. It is important because we are celebrating the 25 th Anniversary of the CEDAW ratification by Mexico- with very few advances. There is still a long way to go.

Thank you.

This page was last updated on November 6, 2006

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