ENTRENCHED ATTITUDE MUST BE UPROOTED FOR MEXICAN WOMEN TO ADVANCE, WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE TOLD

30 January 1998

Press Release
WOM/1019

ENTRENCHED ATTITUDE MUST BE UPROOTED FOR MEXICAN WOMEN TO ADVANCE, WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE TOLD

19980130 Mexico's Representative Introduces Report, Responds to Questions Posed by Experts on Wide Range of Issues

Time and a strong political will would be needed to uproot deeply entrenched values and attitudes in Mexican society and allow women to advance, the General Coordinator of the National Programme for Women in Mexico told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning.

Bulce Maria Sauri, said that, despite new laws and programmes protecting Mexican women and securing their equitable participation, deficiencies and shortages remained. To combat the problem, the Government had established a national machinery aimed at encouraging the broad participation of women in the formulation and implementation of public policies. Another programme for women focused on raising the awareness of legislators and public officials about modernizing the legal and administrative system.

Introducing her country's third and fourth periodic reports to the Committee, Ms. Sauri also responded to questions posed by the 23-member expert Committee, which monitors compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Concerning education, she said structural conditions continued to hinder progress towards making elementary education universal. Educational goals were further impeded by geographic dispersion, poverty and the use of children as workers. As a result, the Government had accelerated the process of decentralizing education. Also, employment training services were being offered to women.

Ms. Sauri also addressed questions about: land ownership among rural women; labour standards and trade unions; women in politics; violence against women, including domestic violence; and prostitution and the trafficking of women and girls.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. this afternoon to continue its consideration of Mexico's report. The Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Nafis Sadik, will also address the Committee.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met this morning to consider Mexico's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It had before it Mexico's third and fourth periodic report covering the period from 1990 to 1997 (document CEDAW/C/MEX/3-4). The present report is a follow-up to Mexico's second report in 1990 (document A/45/38). The country's initial report was submitted in 1985 (document A/39/45).

The report states that the economic and social problems faced in Mexico over recent years has had adverse consequences on the integration of Mexican women into national life. Despite the crises, however, the Government of Mexico was continuing to implement policies and measures aimed at improving the standard of living of the groups most in need, both male and female. Those policies were particularly focused on the living conditions in rural and deprived urban areas.

According to the report, while the programmes and measures it describes implement the specific provisions of the Convention, they were not conceived or planned with that sole object, but form part of the overall measures undertaken under the development policies of the Mexican Government.

Before discussing Mexico's implementation of the Convention article by article, the report presents the results of a population and housing study performed in 1995, which describes among other things, the total population of males and females in Mexico, their ages, growth rates and movement from one region or area to another.

The study found that 50.75 per cent of the population was female, or a total of 46.3 million females to 44.9 million males. The population figures showed that the growth rate over the past two-and-half decades was now 2.6 per cent, down from 3.2 per cent for the period 1950-1970. The study also noted that, as the population of a town increased, so did the number of females compared to males, showing that major towns continue to be economic and social magnets for women. Also relevant was the age of the population of Mexico -- the average age of the population being 21 to 22 for women and 20 for men, with 47 per cent of the population under 19 years of age.

With regard to Mexico's measures to eliminate discrimination against women, a number of provisions were adopted as a result of constitutional amendments and legislative work, the report states. However, women suffer no legal limitations under the Mexican Constitution and Mexican law regarded women as having the same rights and obligations as men.

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According to the report, substantial progress had been made in combating discrimination against women through the establishment in 1993 of the Programme on Matters relating to Women, Children and the Family of the National Human Rights Commission. The Programme was responsible for hearing complaints submitted by women who believe that their rights had been violated and for studying and proposing solutions to the problems which impede the rights of women. It was also given the responsibility for promoting the rights of women in the family and ensuring their access to education, employment, social security and health care.

Mexico made further steps towards ensuring access to education for women with the General Education Act of 1993, the report says. The Act states that Mexico's education system must uphold the ideal of equality of rights of every human being and that it should avoid privileges due to race, religion or sex. The Act also stipulates that measures should be taken so that every individual was allowed access to education, greater educational equality and the attainment of effective equality of opportunity of access to and retention in educational services.

The report goes on to say that, with respect to the participation of women in politics, the Mexican Congress adopted an addendum to article 22 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures that would allow for more women candidates for some public offices. The addendum, adopted on 22 November 1996, states that the national political parties should consider in their statutes that no more than 70 per cent of the candidates for deputy or senator should be of the same sex. At the local level, the State of San Luis Potosi adopted an electoral law that ensures the registration of an equal number of male and female candidates.

For the protection of the health of women in employment, the Federal Safety, Hygiene and Working Environment Regulations were adopted in April 1997, the report states. The measure provided for safety and hygiene regulations in such areas as forestry, agriculture and sawmills, where such regulations did not exist. It also incorporated safety provisions to protect the fetuses or children of pregnant or nursing working women. It states that pregnant women may not be engaged in employment that was hazardous to them or the fetus. Such working environments included those with dangerous chemicals, exposure to radiation, or requiring physical exertion.

Further, the report states, Mexico has also instated the Reproductive Health and Family Planning Programme (1995-2000), which approached health in physical, mental and social terms. The Programme's objectives include: promoting women's education and information levels, especially relating to sexuality and reproduction; reducing the number of unwanted, unplanned or high-risk births; and fostering a responsible attitude among men and women towards sexuality and reproduction.

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On the issue of protecting women against acts of violence, the report states that five articles of the Constitution were amended to improve Mexico's ability to deal with organized crime -- recognized as one of the country's most serious problems. The Criminal Code was also amended to strengthen the provisions related to the illegal deprivation of liberty against victims of violence under 16 years of age or over 60. At the federal district level, the Assembly of Representatives adopted the Domestic Violence Prevention and Assistance Act, which entered into force in August 1996. Also, in November 1996, the Senate approved the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women.

In addition to those legal efforts, social support measures have also been taken, says the report. In March 1995, the Federal District Department of Public Prosecution established a sub-department to deal with victims of crime and to provide a network linking the specialized agencies dealing with victims. In April 1996, that same department was given authority to provide legal, social and psychological support to crime victims. The National Programme for Women: Alliance for Equality (PRONAM), initiated in March 1995, has promoted such activities as: the elimination of images of violence against women in the media; the promotion of research and dissemination of adequate and reliable statistics on violence against women; and efforts to ensure that victims of violence have effective access to just compensation.

Under the topic of improving the status of rural women, Mexico has instituted a number of agrarian reform programmes, the report states. The Rural Women's Programme was created in 1991 by the Ministry of Agrarian Reform to promote the financing and operation of production activities and services to benefit organized rural women. Under that Programme, support has been given for the development of projects in response to requests from the women themselves and loans were granted directly to the women concerned for their use and administration. From 1991 to 1996, the Programme supported 10,372 projects and directly benefitted 28,000 women under a scheme of low interest loans and repayment to cover reinvestment.

In an effort to monitor Mexico's compliance with the Convention, the Department for Coordination of Matters relating to Women was established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the report. The Department has the function of serving as an administrative unit linking national and international agencies that promote the advancement of women and monitor the implementation of the relevant international instruments signed by Mexico.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has also undertaken a detailed analysis of relevant federal regulations in relation to women, according to the report. The survey was meant to determine whether such regulations were in line with necessary amendments, so that the legal equality of men and women could be transformed into a real equality of opportunity. The results of the

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Commission's survey were in the process of publication, according to the report.

An addendum containing observations on the Mexico report was also before the Committee (document CEDAW/C/MEX/3-4/Add.1). It contains comments from experts in the field, non-governmental organizations, the academic world, political parties, legislative organs, trade unions and civic associations.

Addressing affirmative action and particularly Mexico's efforts to increase women in government, an expert states that, despite the Mexican State of Sonora requiring parties to limit the number of male candidates, that recommendation had been carried out only in part. Furthermore, while the Democratic Revolutionary Party emphasized the "mandatory" provisions that not more than 70 per cent of candidates should be of the same sex, the Institutional Revolutionary Party perceived that as only a non-binding recommendation. In the current contest both parties had difficulties meeting that percentage.

On the topic of health, an expert states that the Reproductive Health and Family Planning Programme was also designed to promote the elimination of domestic violence against pregnant women and take action for their special care. While the report shows that women have a greater life expectancy than men, that simply demonstrates the need to give special attention to the many women who live alone in the last years of their life in precarious socio- economic and health conditions.

Concerning rural development, an expert states that in one year 40 million pesos were spent on direct activities with 134,737 women. That money was given for the promotion of various farming activities, vegetable and fruit farms and for support for small enterprises. Also, the National Network of Rural Women in Action was established to provide support for rural women and promote their development.

Introduction of Report

DULCE MARIA SAURI, National Coordinator of the National Programme for Women in Mexico, said Mexico's report included data on ongoing governmental programmes and measures aimed at improving the situation of Mexican women and securing their participation on an equitable basis in the economic and social development of the country, in accordance with the National Development Plan and the National Programme for Women.

During the period covered by the report, she said, new legal provisions were adopted dealing with various matters relating to the situation of women. In June 1993, the Programme for Women, Children and Family was created by the National Commission of Human Rights. The Commission carried out a very detailed analysis of the main federal regulations, with an aim to ascertaining

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whether they were in line with the provisions of the Convention. The Commission's study contained a series of reform proposals for the local constitutions, their respective laws on health, education and social assistance, as well as to the civil and criminal codes and the labour and agrarian federal legislation.

She said PRONAM started by acknowledging the fact that it was essential to encourage the broad participation of women in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies, making sure that the programmes met their specific demands and needs. It was also intended to carry out educational and communication activities directed towards legislators and officials responsible for creating public plans and programmes, in order to ensure that women might fully exercise their rights as citizens.

In order to improve the situation of women living in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty, the federal Government implemented the Food, Health and Education Programme (PROGRESSA), she added. The first stage of the Programme dealt predominantly with the rural population of the country. The Programme was in the process of establishing a series of affirmative measures in favour of the female population, after recognizing the disadvantages women and girls faced in terms of food, educational levels and health.

On the issue of violence, she said three support centres had been established for victims: the Support Therapy Centre; the Domestic Violence Care Centre; and the Missing and Absent Persons Support Centre. Also, contacts have been established with those States of the Republic whose governments have shown an interest in initiating similar programmes. Specialized agencies in sexual offenses have been established in 27 States. In 1994, the Specialized Care and Legal Orientation Unit was created and the Comprehensive Care Programme for the Victims of Sexual Attacks was also established.

After extensive analysis of domestic violence, she said legal amendments had been proposed, both criminal and civil, against domestic violence. Those amendments were basis for a bill of reforms presented by the President and the female legislators of the five political parties represented in Congress.

Concerning political participation, she said that women constituted the majority of the Mexican population, but they did not enjoy full equality in terms of their participation in the country's political affairs. Only three women had been governor of a federal entity in Mexico and a number of affirmative action measures had been implemented in order to increase the number of women candidates for office. Very few women served as either mayor or president of a municipality, although it had shown a slight increase. In 1991, of all presidents of municipalities, 2 per cent were women. By 1995, however, 4.5 per cent were women.

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On the issue of education, the Government had established various strategies, she said. It had accelerated the process of decentralization of education through the 1992 National Agreement for the Modernization of Basic Education. The Agreement made it possible to transfer federal control of the national basic education system to the States. Also, the National Institute of Adult Education addressed the problems of women in education. With a view to promoting literacy and overcoming other educational deficiencies among women, the Institute was offering non-formal employment training services. In the past academic year, 1.3 million adults had been trained under that method.

Also the National Education Promotion Council, which operated in small settlements, had proposed the establishment of schools in the communities themselves, she added. A major reason for the dropout of women was that parents did not allow them to attend schools that were outside of the community.

On the issue of health, the Health Ministry instituted a programme called "Women, Health and Development in 1995", she continued. Also, the Programme for Reproductive Health and Family Planning 1995-2000 had been created. It was based on a holistic conception that viewed health as the state of general physical, mental and social well being in all aspects related to the reproductive system. The Programme incorporated the gender perspective in all activities related to the setting of standards, education and communication, the provision of services and research and evaluation in matters concerning reproductive health.

The maternal death rate had been reduced by half between 1980 and 1996, from 9.5 deaths per 10,000 newborns to 4.8, she said. One of the major challenges regarding reproductive health was to decrease the maternal death rate, particularly since most of those deaths could be prevented.

In Mexico, abortion was the fourth leading cause of death among mothers, she said. There was evidence that the incidence of induced abortions had declined, mainly as a result of women's greater access to modern contraceptive methods that met their reproductive expectations. The official Mexican standards on maternal and child health and family planning were recently revised and updated. Activities had also been undertaken to promote health care for women, for example through the use of the "expectant mother's card" and the creation of antenatal care clinics.

Prenatal care provided by a health agent had increased importantly in the last two decades, she continued. The rate of pregnant women that saw a doctor increased from 54.9 per cent in the period from 1974 to 1976 to 86.1 per cent from 1993 to 1995. In efforts to prevent AIDS/HIV, the National Programme Against AIDS made it a priority to offer all pregnant women access to free treatment to decrease the probability that the baby would be born infected.

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To enhance economic development for women, she said the Government was carrying out various financing programmes to foster the productive capacity of women, especially those who were the most vulnerable -- rural women. Recently, the Government had begun to incorporate strategies for financial support, especially for micro-enterprises owned by women. In that connection, the programme for the encouragement and support of low-income businesswomen was introduced by the Nacional Financiera in March 1997. It was directed towards encouraging initiatives and giving practical and programmatic support to micro-enterprises managed by women. A number of other programmes had been instituted that aimed to foster productive projects promoted by rural women.

She added that in 1997 a Rural Women National Network was started, in order to link governmental institutional actions, social groups and non- governmental organizations, with the goal of promoting integral development.

While Mexico had made a number of strides in the advancement of the situation of women, there were still deficiencies and shortages, she said. The advancements achieved were not enjoyed equally by all women and girls. She recognized that the most profound changes were borne in the deepest values, creeds and attitudes of society, which could only be achieved through processes that demanded time and a strong political will. To attain equality, her country hoped to design a policy that could grant women and girls not only equal treatment, but equal opportunities.

Response of Mexico

Ms. SAURI than read from a prepared document detailing Mexico's responses to specific questions raised by the Committee in a pre-session working group (document CEDAW/1998/CRP.1/Add.4).

The response addressed questions about the following areas: the efficacy of the Program on Women, Children and the Family Issues; the operation of PRONAM; land ownership among rural women; labour standards and trade unions; women in politics; violence against women, and the rehabilitation programmes for persons who commit such acts; traffic of women and girls; and health, protection of children, and education.

To questions about how the political will of the Mexican Government approached the reality of working girls and boys, Ms. SAURI said that the Government's reform was consistent with its commitments to the World Summit for Children, and to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, the guidelines of the National Program of Actions in Favor of Childhood 1995-2000 were being executed. That programme took into account the most vulnerable minors, such as those who lived in scattered communities, indigenous peoples, children of migrant day labourers, and working minors. They were divided into 11 groups to allow the implementation

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of specific actions tailored to their individual needs. Such actions would be linked to an overall strategy focused on health, education, nutrition, and justice.

She said that while institutional programmes represented, in principle, an answer to the acute problems of children, one of the main challenges was reversing that vulnerability and achieving real and social individual integration. A necessary element was the active and decided participation of the society. To that end, government institutions were intensely fostering the commitment and participation of the citizenry, incorporating actions carried out by universities and colleges, non-governmental organizations and private associations.

In particular, actions directed to girls and boys living under very difficult circumstances should tend to improve the economic, social and family conditions that hindered their development, she continued. The overall objective of the Government was to promote changes in the living conditions and improve the protection of those groups through institutional and social actions. During the current administration, the Government was making a great effort to allocate considerable resources for social welfare and the fight against poverty. There was also technical and financial cooperation from international bodies, including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Concerning specific programmes, the federal Government was attempting to promote higher levels of education for children of migrant workers, she said. Some 40,000 children of migrant day labourers received educational services, with 30 per cent of that group being girls. In most cases, girls did not help their parents in agricultural activities. Rather, they helped with housework and took care of the young. Pertinent educational strategies were being designed for boys and girls to respond to their particular conditions, rhythms and needs.

In general terms, the number of students in elementary education had increased 538,000 in recent school years, she said. Girls represented the majority. That increase was perceived to be the result of a policy to extend the educational coverage towards population groups that had faced difficulties in obtaining access to education. However, structural conditions continued to hinder progress towards making elementary education universal. Geographic dispersion and extreme poverty made it necessary to use children as workers. The growth of the number of communities with fewer than 200 inhabitants further complicated the problem. The gradual creation of educational programmes targeted at indigenous communities was necessary.

In response to questions concerning domestic violence, she said that criminal and civil reforms were recently approved. However, no national legislation could be adopted in that regard because domestic violence cases were under the jurisdiction of each State. Following the recent approval of

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the package of reforms, 91 women representatives out of the 134 in the country attended the first-ever meeting of women legislators on the matter of domestic violence. They committed themselves to foster regulations against domestic violence, and to disseminate the recently approved legislative reforms. Within that framework, it was announced that various State congresses were already preparing bills on the matter. Some States already had administrative legislation on domestic violence.

Continuing, she said that most of the States had established specialized agencies to treat victims of sexual crimes, which included medical care and counselling centres. The punishment in cases where girls were victims of sexual offenses was three to eight years in prison and that increased if alcohol or drug abuse was involved. The recently approved reform on domestic violence increased the punishment for acts involving the corruption of minors and broadened application of the law to encompass not only parents or step- parents, but other relatives and non-relatives.

She said that, with such reform, domestic violence was now a basis for divorce. Thus, judges could now keep the offender from returning to the home, as a preventive measure. The reform also provided for measures to repair the damage. For example, the offender was responsible for re-establishing what was lost as a result of the crime and absorbing the cost, including for the psychological treatment of the victim, when necessary. Although no studies on the problem had been undertaken at a national level, some studies had resulted in the development of psychotherapeutic models that incorporated the gender perspective. The "Model of Legal Attention to Abuse", in the Attorney General's office, for example, encouraged victims to learn about their legal rights and provided psychological support.

With regard to the protection of the health of pregnant women workers, she said that the Mexican Government restricted pregnant women from doing work that demanded substantial effort and could endanger their health with respect to the pregnancy. Women were also entitled to maternity leave six weeks before the approximate date of the delivery and six weeks after it. During that period, they received their salary in full and kept their jobs, as well as the rights acquired with the work relationship. During nursing, they had two extraordinary breaks per day to feed their babies.

Other laws in that connection, she said, prohibited pregnant women from having to perform unhealthy or endangering tasks, work industrial night shifts or work overtime. Pregnant women were also not allowed to work around hazardous chemicals or other materials. An employer should temporarily relocate the employee to a non-dangerous position, once he or she learns of the pregnancy.

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On the issue of minors in the workplace, she said that the Mexican Constitution stated that it was the parents' responsibility to protect children's rights with regard to needs and physical and mental health. The law determined the support that children would be provided by public institutions. The Constitution also prohibited anyone under the 14 years of age from working. All children under 16 years of age could work a maximum of 6 hours per day.

She added that employers who hired children under 16 years of age were required to: obtain medical certificates that proved they were fit to work; keep special inspection records indicating type of job and working conditions; and divide the work activities, so they could meet their school schedules, among other things.

On the issue of the trafficking of women and girls, she said there were no legal provisions, as such. However, the National Commission of Human Rights had made some proposals after analysing certain regulations, in order to properly protect women and girls from those crimes in all States. In a study sponsored by the National Commission, it was found that those crimes were covered in most States by the offence of pandering, which fell under crimes against the public morality and good customs. Punishments for such crimes varied from one State to another, ranging from 2 to 9 years in prison and fines of from 50 to 500 days of minimum wage. The penalty was increased if the exploiter had some authority over the victim.

She added that, in the case of minors, some local codes considered the prostitution of children under the pandering laws. In most cases, however, it was typified as child perversion under the title of crimes against public morality. In that case, punishments could go from 6 months to 2 years detention and fines of up to 20 days of minimum wage.

On the proposal made by the Human Rights Commission for the regulation of prostitution, she said the proposal was divided into two parts, the first dealing with health and the second concerning the regulation of the activity. The proposal stipulates, among other things, that all practising prostitutes must meet certain health requirements. Those requirements were controlled and accredited by means of a personal health card. Without that card, sexual services cannot be offered. Regulation of the activity was proposed to establish specific places for the practice of prostitution.

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