State Reports - CEDAW - Mexico - CEDAW/C/MEX/3-4 (1997)

CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women

* For the initial report submitted by the Government of Mexico, see CEDAW/C/5/Add.2; for its consideration by the Committee, see CEDAW/C/SR.13 and CEDAW/C/SR.17, and Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-ninth Session, Supplement No.45 (A/39/45) (A/39/45), vol. I, paras. 67-89; for the second periodic report submitted by the Government of Mexico, see CEDAW/C/13/Add.10 and CEDAW/C/13/Add.10/Amend.1; for its consideration by the Committee, see CEDAW/C/SR.163, and Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-fifth Session, Supplement No.38 (A/45/38), paras. 350-369.

1. Women have a primary role in the development process and are an essential factor in that process. Development, however, does not automatically guarantee the emancipation of women, as if women were only passive beneficiaries. On the contrary, it is important to recognize the strategic role of women in promoting social and economic development, furthering democracy and transmitting cultural values, as well as the activities carried out by women on behalf of the development of their family and community.

2. Despite the impact of the economic and social crisis and its adverse consequences as regards the number and quality of opportunities for the integration of Mexican women into national life, the Government of Mexico is continuing to implement policies and measures aimed at improving the standard of living of the population groups most in need, both male and female, particularly the living conditions in rural and deprived urban areas.

3. This report includes 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 (PND).

4. Although the format of the document is in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it should be noted that the majority of the programmes and measures described form part of the National Development Plan; that is to say, they were not conceived or planned with the sole object of implementing the specific provisions of the articles of the Convention, but form part of the overall measures undertaken under the development policies of the Government of Mexico.

5. Aware of the changes and progress that have been brought about in the integration of women into the development process on a basis of equality with men, the Government of Mexico has made major efforts to illustrate the advances achieved in the pursuit of that policy through the application of gender-specific criteria.

6. One example of the afore-mentioned efforts is the fact that, with effect from the Eleventh National Population Census of 1990, the gender category has been taken into account in the various areas of national development and production.

7. According to the results of the 1995 Population and Housing Census, published by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI), the total number of inhabitants of the Republic of Mexico in that year was 91,158,290, of whom 50.75 per cent, or a total of 46,257,791, were female and 49.25 per cent, or 44,900,499, male, which meant that there were 97.1 males to every 100 females (annex 1). These figures show that, over the past two and a half decades, the population of the country has increased at an average annual rate of approximately 2.6 per cent, a figure which is lower than that recorded for the period 1950-1970, when the rate was 3.2 per cent.

8. The population is distributed geographically in 31 federal states and the Federal District. Mexico State has 11,707,964 inhabitants (12.84 per cent of the total population), followed by the Federal District with 8,489,007 (9.31 per cent). By comparison, the states of Baja California Sur, Colima, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Aguascalientes and Tlaxcala have populations of fewer than 1 million inhabitants, or less than 1 per cent (annex 2).

9. According to the results of the 1995 Population and Housing Census, 24,154,775 Mexicans (26.49 per cent) live in 198,311 rural localities (with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants), while 54,633,429 (59.93 per cent) live in 481 localities with over 15,000 inhabitants. As indicated by INEGI, this shows that the population trends of concentration in the major towns and dispersal into small localities are continuing in Mexico (annex 3).

10. The urban and rural population breakdown by federal entity exhibits significant differences. Indeed, while the urban population in the Federal District and in Nuevo Léon is 99.70 and 92.95 per cent respectively, in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas it is only 43.49 and 44.14 per cent respectively. At the national level, the average urban population, in other words the population residing in localities with 2,500 or more inhabitants, is 71.44 per cent (annex 4).

11. It is of interest to note that, as the size of the locality increases, the sex ratio (i.e. the number of males to every 100 females) decreases, whereas, as the size of the locality decreases, the number of males increases. As will be seen in the sections dealing with employment and rural women, the major towns continue to be economic and social magnets for woman (annex 5).

12. As regards the age-group structure of the population, Mexico is still a young country, the average age of the total population being 21 to 22 years for women and 20 for men (annex 6); 46.51 per cent of the total population of Mexico is under 19 years of age (annex 7). However, the beginnings of an "ageing" process can now be observed, since the base of the population pyramid (the 0 to 4 years age group) is tending to narrow, compared with the population pyramids for the 1950s and 1970s.

13. Mexico is a multicultural country. According to the data compiled during the 1995 Population and Housing Census, 5,483,555 people speak one of the indigenous languages, a figure which represents 6.01 per cent of the total population over five years of age. Of this total, 49.958 per cent are female and 50.041 per cent male. According to the same source, the indigenous population is to be found in greater numbers in localities with 100 to 499 and 1,000 to 2,499 inhabitants. Of the female population between the ages of 5 and 75, 54.22 per cent are under 30 years of age (annex 8).

14. The indigenous population is distributed irregularly over the entire national territory. The states having the highest percentage of such inhabitants are Oaxaca (18.74 per cent), Chiapas (14.01 per cent), Veracruz (10.77 per cent), Yucatán (9.95 per cent), Puebla (9.62 per cent), Hidalgo (5.98 per cent), Guerrero (5.85 per cent) and Mexico State (5.66 per cent). At the other extreme are Aguascalientes, Colima and Zacatecas, which have less than 1.0 per cent of the indigenous population (annex 9).

15. As regards the number of indigenous languages spoken in the country, the 1995 Population and Housing Census recorded a total of 80, in addition to indicating the names of other indigenous languages of Mexico and other indigenous languages of America. The predominant language is Náhuatl, which is spoken by 24.17 per cent of the population aged five years and over, followed by Maya (14.16 per cent), Zapoteco (7.57 per cent), Mixteco (7.11 per cent), Otomí (5.16 per cent), Tzeltal (5.16 per cent), Tzotzil (4.80 per cent) and Totonaca (3.90 per cent) (annex 10).

16. Of the total number of inhabitants aged five years and over who speak an indigenous language, 84.78 per cent are bilingual, that is to say they also speak Spanish, while 14.73 per cent are monolingual. In the case of indigenous females, 80.70 per cent are bilingual and 18.69 per cent are monolingual, while the corresponding percentages for males are 88.85 and 10.78 per cent respectively (annex 11).

17. The Mexican Constitution, the great social pact which regulates political and legal relations between Mexican men and women, is one of the most advanced in the world.

18. The Mexican Constitution was the first to proclaim and protect social guarantees, in addition to individual guarantees; that is to say, it protects men and women both as individuals and in terms of groups.

19. Individual guarantees require the State to adopt an attitude of respect for human freedoms, since those freedoms constitute an area into which State power cannot penetrate. They are established in the Constitution, in particular in Title I, chapter I. Thus, starting with article 1, the Federal Constitution sets forth and protects the rights of all individuals, without distinction as to sex, age, race or creed, as well as the rights of legal entities.

20. Social guarantees, on the other hand, recognize the right of every human being to lead a dignified existence and require the application of governmental measures to ensure the well-being of all groups forming part of the community; they are set out, above all, in articles 3, 4, 27 and 123, that is to say in those articles which refer to education, the family and the equality of men and women before the law, land ownership and natural resources, and employment.

21. Article 133 of the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States stipulates that the "Constitution, the laws of the Congress of the Union which emanate therefrom, and all treaties made, or which shall be made in accordance therewith by the President of the Republic, with the approval of the Senate, shall be the supreme law throughout the Union. The judges of every State shall be bound to the said Constitution, laws and treaties, notwithstanding any contradictory provisions that may appear in the constitutions or laws of the States".

22. By virtue of that constitutional precept, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, signed by Mexico on 17 July 1980, ratified on 23 March 1981 and published in the Diario Oficial of the Federation on 12 May 1981, forms part of the supreme law throughout the Union; its implementation is mandatory at the federal level.

23. In that connection, the Government of Mexico recognizes that the Convention is in itself a programmatic framework which sets out measures to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, in accordance with the rights recognized in other international instruments.

24. On that basis, Mexico views the Convention as offering recommendations which are necessary in order to eliminate, in the political, economic, social, cultural and civil spheres, acts which could involve discrimination against women.

25. As already indicated in the previous reports, starting with the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, in general terms, women suffer no legal limitation whatsoever, since the law regards them as having the same rights and obligations as men.

26. The legislation setting out regulations relating to the articles of the Constitution which govern daily life contains provisions to ensure the equality of women and men. Reference will be made to these pieces of legislation when the report deals with the degree of implementation of other articles of the Convention.

27. During the period covered by this report, new provisions were adopted as a result of constitutional amendments and legislative work dealing with various matters relating to the situation of women. It should be pointed out that, despite the new legislative provisions, in general there has been no change in the situation indicated in previous reports, in that the Mexican Constitution explicitly recognizes the equality of men and women before the law. This report will provide a general panorama of the recent major reforms and legal initiatives and their impact in relation to women.

Establishment of the National Human Rights Commission and its Programme on Matters relating to Women, Children and the Family

28. The National Human Rights Commission was established by a Presidential Decree published in the Diario Oficial of the Federation on 6 June 1990. Subsequently, on 28 January 1992, a section B was added to article 102 of the Constitution, which laid down the bases for the establishment of organizations of that type throughout the Republic. These actions supplemented the Mexican system for the protection of human rights, in addition to the institution of the writ of protection (juicio de amparo).

"The Congress of the Union and the Legislatures of the States shall, within the limits of their competence, establish organizations for the protection of human rights, which shall be informed of complaints of acts or omissions of an administrative nature by any authority or public servant, with the exception of those forming part of the judiciary of the Federation who violate those rights, and shall formulate autonomous non-binding public recommendations and denunciations and complaints against the respective authorities.

"These organizations shall not be competent to deal with electoral, employment and jurisdictional matters.

"The organization established by the Congress of the Union shall be informed of any lack of conformity in the recommendations, agreements and omissions of the equivalent organizations in the States."

30. The National Human Rights Commission Act does not include specific provisions relating to the rights of women, since the individual guarantees proclaimed in the Constitution provide for the equality of men and women; nevertheless, substantial progress has 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.

31. The Programme on Matters relating to Women, Children and the Family is responsible for hearing complaints submitted by women who believe that their rights pertaining to their status as women have been violated, for studying and proposing solutions to the problems which impede the full exercise of the human rights of women, and for promoting the equality of relations and responsibilities of men and women within the nuclear family. It promotes the access of women to all levels of the educational system and their retention in the system, the right to employment, training and equitable entry levels, to social security and insurance systems, and to health services, in particular reproductive health services.

32. Specifically as far as the work of the National Human Rights Commission with respect to international instruments is concerned, article 6, section XIII, of the Act establishing its functions and responsibilities states:

"XIII. To formulate programmes and propose measures, in coordination with the competent agencies, which will promote the implementation within the national territory of the international treaties, conventions and agreements relating to human rights signed and ratified by Mexico."

33. In 1992, the New Agrarian Act was adopted in line with the amendment to article 27 of the Constitution. Article 63 of the New Agrarian Act states that "the same protection will be given to ... the women's industrial-agricultural unit [as to the land intended for human settlement]". Article 71 of the Act stipulates that of the land forming part of an ejido (unit of communal land) "an area could be reserved, ... preferably in the best land adjacent to the urbanization zone, to be set aside for the establishment of an agricultural and livestock farm or of rural industries operated by women over 16 years of age ... [which] could include facilities designed specifically for the benefit and protection of peasant women". The new Act thereby extended that right to all women, since the previous Act had limited it to women who were not ejidatarias (holders of shares in an ejido).

34. There has, however, been some retrogression compared with the previous Agrarian Act, article 103 of which had made the existence of women's industrial-agricultural units mandatory in each ejido. Now, that decision is left to the assembly of the ejido, as is the extension of a plot of land. Similarly, the right of the wife or common-law wife to be the primary successor to a plot of communal land, a right set forth in article 81 of the 1971 Act, has been abolished, and in its place the new Act establishes that an ejidatario has the right to designate successors at his discretion.

Access of women to education and the retention of women in the educational system

35. In the field of education, the amendment to article 3 of the Constitution, published in the Diario Oficial on 5 March 1993, represents an important advance towards making secondary education - as well as primary education - mandatory, reaffirming the right of every individual to receive an education.

36. The General Education Act of 1993, in conformity with the constitutional amendment, states, in article 8, section III, the precept which stipulates that education must uphold the "ideals of fraternity and equality of rights of every human being, avoiding privileges on account of race, religion, group or sex, or individual privileges".

37. In chapter 3, article 32, relating to equality in education, the General Education Act stipulates that measures should be taken "towards establishing conditions which would allow for the full exercise of the right of every individual to education, greater educational equality, and the attainment of effective equality of opportunity of access to and retention in educational services. These measures will be directed, on a continuing basis, at those groups and regions which are most backward in education or which are experiencing disadvantageous economic and social conditions". It thereby establishes a legal framework which implicitly recognizes the gender differences with regard to the access of females to education and the school dropout rate among females, as well as the need to establish measures targeting vulnerable groups, among which women occupy an important place.

38. On 22 November 1996, the Congress of the Union adopted an addendum to provisional article 22 of the Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures, which 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.

39. At the state level, on 23 December 1996, the Congress of the State of San Luis Potosí adopted the Electoral Law of that State, article 33 of which states that the political parties must ensure the registration of an equal number of candidates of the two sexes. The Congress of the State of Sonora amended article 89 of that State's Electoral Code to incorporate a requirement that, in the register of proposed candidates, on no electoral roll should more than 80 per cent of the candidates be of the same sex.

40. The Federal Safety, Hygiene and Working Environment Regulations, which have been in force since 21 April 1997, incorporate for the first time in Mexican legislation provisions regulating safety and hygiene in employment in specific activities that have not been considered hitherto - such as forestry, agriculture and the sawmills industry - including measures relating to fixed and temporary installations; agricultural machinery, equipment and implements; agrochemical agents and, especially, the safe use of insecticides and fertilizers. It also incorporates safety and hygiene provisions to protect the fetuses or children of pregnant or nursing working women, and at the same time dictates preventive measures to protect the physical and mental development of minors in the workplace.

41. It states that pregnant women cannot be engaged in employment which involves the operation, transport or storage of teratogenic or mutagenic substances; where there is exposure to sources of ionizing radiation capable of producing contamination in the workplace, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions, regulations and standards; where there are abnormal environmental pressures or disturbed environmental thermal conditions; and where the muscular effort which is required might affect the fetus.

42. In 1996, on the initiative of the executive branch, articles 16, 20 (section I), 21, 22 and 73 (section XXI) of the Constitution were amended to improve the potential to deal with organized crime, which is recognized as one of the most serious problems experienced by Mexico and by the whole international community. At the same time, the Criminal Code was amended to strengthen, inter alia, the provisions relating to the illegal deprivation of liberty when carried out with violence and when the victim is under 16 or over 60 years of age or physically or mentally inferior to the person responsible for the deprivation of liberty.

43. On 7 November 1996, the Federal Act against Organized Crime was published in the Diario Oficial. The purpose of the Act is "to establish rules for the investigation, prosecution, trial, sentencing and enforcement of the penalty in the case of offences committed by any member of organized crime. Its provisions are a public order and are applicable throughout the national territory", inter alia, in matters relating to trafficking in those without identification papers and minors.

44. Moreover, at the Federal District level, the Assembly of Representatives adopted the Domestic Violence Prevention and Assistance Act, which entered into force in August 1996.

45. On 26 November 1996, the Senate of the Republic approved the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women - the Convention of Belém do Paró. In January 1997, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended its ratification.

46. In Mexico, governmental action with regard both to the establishment of programmes in favour of women and to support for legislative reforms goes back several decades; one example was the recognition of the right of women to vote in 1953.

47. Indeed, as indicated in the initial, second and third reports of Mexico,

various programmes and measures have been implemented in the past 20 years to help to improve the status of women. It should be pointed out that 1974 saw the establishment of the National Programme for International Women's Year, which prepared Mexico's report for the 1975 World Conference, held in Mexico. As part of International Women's Year, new advances were made towards achieving the equality of women with the amendment of the Political Constitution of the Republic and various pieces of civil, labour and other legislation.

48. As indicated in the second periodic report, in 1980 the National Programme for the Integration of Women in Development was established within the National Population Council (CONAPO) of the Ministry of the Interior. Later, in 1985, a National Commission for Women was established, also within the Council, to coordinate sectoral activities and projects which formed part of a renewed Plan of Action.

49. In 1993, the work of the Commission was reoriented towards the preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women, with a National Coordinating Committee.

50. Similarly, in January 1994, the Department for the Coordination of Matters relating to Women was established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in preparation for and in support of the National Coordinating Committee for the Fourth World Conference on Women; it has the functions of serving as the administrative unit linking national and international agencies which promote the advancement of women, and monitoring the implementation of the relevant international instruments signed by Mexico, as well as the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

51. On 8 March 1995, the National Programme for Women: Alliance for Equality (PRONAM) was initiated; the official document was submitted one year later. This Programme constitutes a national mechanism to promote activities designed to improve the status of Mexican women on the basis of new general objectives.

52. The National Programme for Women forms part of the National Development Plan 1995-2000; it too proposes, as a priority social policy objective, the promotion of the full and effective participation of women in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the country on an equal basis with men. (Further details concerning the Programme are provided in the information relating to the implementation of article 3).

53. As a follow-up to the diagnosis drawn up in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women and the strategies established in the National Programme for Women: Alliance for Equality, which are in keeping with what was agreed both in the Regional Programme of Action for Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, 1995-2001, and the Beijing Platform for Action, the National Human Rights Commission, with a view to contributing to the full compliance by the Mexican State with its international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women {and the Convention on the Rights of the Child}, carried out "a very detailed analysis of the principal federal regulations with a view to ascertaining whether they were in line with the provisions of the aforesaid international instruments and proposing any necessary amendments so that the legal equality of men and women could be transformed into a real equality of opportunity for the development of both".

54. The results of the Commission's survey, which also included an analysis of State legislation, are in the process of publication and the proposals for legislative reform will be submitted to the appropriate authorities.

55. In this connection, mention should be made of the readiness of the Mexican State to analyse the proposals of the National Human Rights Commission, which constitute an important and exhaustive diagnosis that will help to draw attention to those situations which require further analysis.

56. Through the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the Section for the Executive Coordination of the National Programme for Women, a meeting was convened on 30 January 1997, within the framework of the Alliance for Equality in the Framework of the New Federalism, for the purpose of analysing the degree of implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the States of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Quintana Roo and Yucatán. One of the topics discussed in this forum was the legal framework with regard to women in each of those autonomous entities. Similar meetings were held in other parts of the Republic.

57. As has already been indicated, the Government of Mexico has implemented various programmes and measures to help to improve the status of women, such as the amendment of article 4 of the Constitution and the establishment of the National Programme for International Women's Year in 1974; the creation of the National Programme for the Integration of Women in Development within the National Population Council (CONAPO) in 1980; and the establishment of the National Commission for Women in 1985.

58. In 1993, the National Coordination Committee was established for the purpose of organizing the preparatory activities for the participation of Mexico in the Fourth World Conference on Women. As a result of the work of the national Coordination Committee, a detailed report was prepared on the situation of Mexican women, as well as a set of thematic diagnoses which served as the basis for Mexico's participation in the Conference and for the preparation of the current National Programme for Women: Alliance for Equality, 1995-2000 (PRONAM).

59. The National Programme for Women: Alliance for Equality, 1995-2000, forms part of the National Development Plan 1995-2000. One of the objectives of the National Plan is the promotion of a set of programmes and measures to guarantee women equal opportunities in education, training and employment; full equality in the exercise of their social, legal, civil, political and reproductive rights; and effective support for their fundamental role in the integration of the family and in the training and socialization of their children.

60. Starting from this basis, PRONAM pursues specific objectives relating to equality between women and men, recognizing that the female population plays a major role not only in the process of economic and social development, but also in democratic advances, in the transmission of our culture and values, in the solidarity of the family and in community development.

61. The National Programme for Women thus starts from recognition of the fact that, among other strategies and measures, it is essential to encourage the broad participation of women in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies, taking care that the programmes meet their specific demands and needs; to carry out educational and communication activities with a view to creating an awareness among the population of the status of women; to promote consciousness-raising efforts directed towards legislators and officials responsible for drawing up and carrying out public plans and programmes; and to modernize and strengthen the legal and administrative machinery to ensure that women may fully exercise their rights as citizens and that the gap between equality of rights and the actual situation is eliminated.

62. In accordance with the Presidential Decree of 21 August 1996, the agencies of the federal public administration are required to comply with PRONAM within their respective areas of competence, as are public entities, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.

63. In order to implement the set of strategies and measures drawn up by PRONAM to promote the advancement of women and in order to act as the executive organ of the Federal Government, under the Ministry of the Interior, the Executive Coordinating Office of the National Programme for Women was established; this organ constitutes Mexico's current Government Office for Women. The Executive Coordinating Office is responsible for bringing together and coordinating inter-agency activities which will permit the full implementation of the National Programme for Women and other governmental programmes in favour of Mexican women so that they may achieve their full development and equality, and thereby promoting the implementation of the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Regional Programme of Action for Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, 1995-2001.

64. Moreover, on 21 October 1996 the Minister of the Interior ordered the establishment of a Consultative Board and a Social Monitoring Board as integrated auxiliary organs for various sectors of society; they are governed by the guidelines of the National Development Plan and PRONAM and by the agreements adopted by their members.

- To encourage and promote the participation of all sectors involved in PRONAM activities in order to expand their scope.

- To contribute to the promotion of joint work by governmental institutions, social and academic organizations and the public.

- To support the strengthening of women's organizations and organizations working for the benefit of women.

- To monitor the implementation of PRONAM to ensure that the activities and goals undertaken are duly carried out.

- To propose measures to enable any deviations from specific projects to be corrected and to monitor their execution.

- To develop mechanisms to promote the strengthening and modernization of the information systems of the agencies participating in the Programme.

- To promote procedures for the evaluation of the quality of the services involved in programmes for women.

67. The organs responsible for the implementation of PRONAM carry out their work on the basis of various priority goals, objectives and strategies determined in accordance with the new programme lines:

68. On the political level in Mexico, affirmative action of various kinds has been taken which has proved to be outstanding particularly in view of the lack of any similar previous experience:

69. The National Human Rights Commission made a proposal to amend the electoral codes in order to make it mandatory for the parties to nominate a percentage of women, a proposal which resulted in the addition of provisional article 22 of the Federal Electoral Institutions and Procedures Code of 22 November 1996, which states that national political parties should consider in their statutes that no more than 70 per cent of the candidates for membership of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate should be of the same sex. They should also promote greater political participation on the part of women.

70. That action should make it possible to incorporate a greater percentage of Mexican women into political life than at present, a percentage closer to the world goal for the year 2000 of 50 per cent of opportunities for women in political parties and in offices representative of the people.

71. In this context, it should be noted that on 21 June 1996 the Congress of the State of Sonora stipulated, in article 89 of the Electoral Code of that State, that no party should nominate more than 80 per cent of its candidates from the same sex. Similarly, on 23 December 1996 the State Congress of San Luis Potosí stipulated, in article 33 of the Electoral Law of that State, that political parties must try to register candidates of both sexes in equal numbers. In Yucatán, the Congress of Yucatán Women was established in November 1996, by notice of the State Government, for the purpose, inter alia, of dealing with the question of political participation.

72. The affirmative action policies put together by the political institutions have reached a peak in recent months. The September 1966 Assembly of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the party in power, decided that the national and regional lists of candidates for popular election in federal, state and municipal elections should in no case include more than 70 per cent of the candidates of the same sex. Thus, two of the most representative parties in the country (PRD and PRI) now have internal provisions which establish a quota of 30 per cent to ensure that women are represented in popularly elected posts.

73. A significant number of non-governmental organizations, social associations and women's groups of all political parties which operate at the national level held a National Women's Assembly for Democratic Transition on 5 October 1996. The Assembly expressed the view that "there would not be full democracy in Mexico until women participated sufficiently in politics, government and the administration and management of justice". The Assembly therefore proposed to "ensure the political participation of women in decision-making positions in the Government, legislative organs, parties and social organizations through temporary affirmative action measures which would contribute to the participation of the female sex on an equitable basis until the cultural and political limitations had been overcome.

74. It is believed that in Mexico these specific measures will become generalized and will multiply in the short term and that at the same time they set a standard for the establishment of other affirmative action measures designed to contribute to the increased participation of women in the leadership of the political parties.

75. In order to improve the situation of women living in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty, the Federal Government has been implementing the Food, Health and Education Programme (PASE) with effect from 1997; the first phase of the Programme deals predominantly with the rural population of 11 entities in the country. PASE is establishing a series of affirmative measures in favour of the female population, after recognizing the disadvantages women face in terms of food, educational levels and school drop-out: it carries out preventive health care activities starting with the antenatal stage and gives priority to the most vulnerable population - pregnant and nursing women, children under five years of age and young people at the basic education level.

76. PASE provides for a transfer of funds to support family food consumption of basic products, the recipient being preferably the mother. In education, it is considering offering monetary support to prevent school drop-out, especially among girls, providing them with more information and allowing them more opportunities to decide how best to exercise their productive capacity. Accordingly, the amount of the funds assigned to females is greater than that assigned to males and increases as they move up to higher levels in school.

77. On the whole, through affirmative action, PASE is seeking to break the vicious circle of poverty which affects levels of education and health, while at the same time recognizing the special situation of mothers and future mothers and the social function of maternity.

78. The education policy of the Government of Mexico seeks to translate into reality the mandate of article 3 of the Constitution, which stipulates that education should be aimed at developing all the faculties of the human being in a harmonious manner, must contribute towards improving the capacity of people to live together, and must reinforce in people the ideals of fraternity and the equality of rights of all human beings, avoiding privileges based, inter alia, on sex.

The text of that article of the Constitution has been taken up in the General Education Act of July 1993.

79. With regard to the content of the basic education plans and curricula, although the General Education Act does not stipulate that they should be aimed at promoting the equality of men and women expressed in articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution, it should be noted that measures have been taken towards that end. With a view to promoting the equality of men and women before the law, material on that subject has been included in the curricula for primary schools - free textbooks - secondary schools and high schools and in the university studies programme.

80. These efforts, however, have not been sufficient. Educational activities, in general, are not directed by gender-based criteria; this means that it is necessary to make specific proposals for men and women for the immediate future and to carry out a complete revision of the educational content. In this connection, the Ministry of Public Education is drawing up a plan for the revision of the content of free textbooks, similar to the revision carried out in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission to incorporate a human rights perspective into the texts.

81. The foregoing meets the strategic objective of PRONAM, one of the priorities of which is the revision of curricula, teaching material, textbooks and teaching methods to eliminate any stereotyped images of women.

82. Since the Mexican Constitution establishes the right to free expression, as well as the right of all individuals to information, the participation of the communication media is required in Mexico to eliminate gender-based stereotypes.

83. In addition to defining national efforts through specific strategic goals to promote a balanced image of women in the communication media, PRONAM recognizes that technological advances in communications and computer science have helped to foster the development of sophisticated systems for the dissemination of messages which transcend national frontiers and have the capacity to influence the attitudes, values and conduct of individuals, their aspirations and expectations and their perceptions of the opportunities available to them.

84. For that reason, along the same lines as the General Education Act, one of the purposes of which is to encourage esteem for human dignity, PRONAM defines its strategic goals as being to undertake continuing campaigns to arouse an awareness of the variety of roles played by women; to promote the establishment of standards and codes of conduct for the communication media which would help to eliminate the dissemination of reductionist images of women in advertising campaigns; to carry out systematic consciousness-raising activities, including seminars and training workshops, aimed at managers and professional staff of the communication media to promote the elimination of stereotyped images of women in the media; and to promote the broader participation of women in leading positions in the communication media.

85. The activities carried out in this sphere in 1996 included forums, seminars, workshops and national meetings with the State Population Councils in order to raise the consciousness of the Governments of the federal entities and of representatives of non-governmental organizations and the mass communication media about gender aspects and the Cairo, Mar del Plata and Beijing Conferences with a view to developing campaigns in the communication media to arouse an awareness of the diversity of roles played by women.

86. Moreover, in order to meet the goal of carrying out systematic consciousness-raising activities aimed at managers and professional staff of the communication media to promote the elimination of stereotyped images of women in the media, the National Population Council prepared a handbook entitled Gender perspective. Guide to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of research projects and public and civilian activities.

87. On the other hand, the status of women within the mass communication media is a subject which has been little explored. While it is certain that the presence of women has been gradually increased and diversified, women journalists and commentators still face discrimination as regards salaries and a marked inequality of access to the media. It is also known that the participation of women at the leadership levels in the communication media is still limited; in general they are to be found at the intermediate levels under a hierarchical structure established for men. There are few women who are editors of newspapers, sub-editors or information chiefs, directors of radio or television stations or owners of advertising agencies. In contrast, there is a high degree of participation of women in journalism, communication science and advertising schools.

88. The increased participation of women in the labour market and the growing acceptance of their presence there have not led to any significant reduction in their domestic responsibilities. The tasks which men occasionally carry out, frequently considered only as a "help" to women, continue to be regarded as an exclusively female responsibility. In that connection, it should be pointed out that, according to recent surveys, approximately 2 per cent of those interviewed believed that domestic tasks should be the exclusive responsibility of men, whereas 63 per cent stated that they were the exclusive responsibility of women and the remaining 35 per cent replied that they were the responsibility of both. Relatively similar percentages were recorded in surveys as to who should be responsible for taking care of the children. The data submitted demonstrate that some advance has been made and some change has occurred in concepts of the roles attributed to women and to men during the 1970s.

89. On the basis of the foregoing, it is believed that one priority measure would be a revision of the labour standards and hours of work so that men and women could share family responsibilities on an equal basis, including the mechanisms for obtaining maternity or paternity leave and benefits.

90. The National Programme for Women had this in view when it stated that one of its priority activities was:

- To promote the revision of labour standards and hours of work so that men and women might share family responsibilities on an equal basis, including the mechanisms for obtaining maternity or paternity leave and benefits.

91. The global social and economic process, which in the developing countries has faced a crisis of acute proportions, combined with the rapid advance of communication science and technology, has, inter alia, led to a severe decline in social and cultural standards in the vast majority of countries, which in turn has given rise to a significant increase in violence against women.

92. The new generations are trying to adjust to the speed of social and political change in the development process itself, while at the same time seeking to bring about the necessary changes in traditional thinking and to adapt social stereotyping to the new cultural and economic requirements imposed by modern life.

93. All this has fostered a new social awareness among women of all nations and we are thus witnessing the formation of groups, associations and coalitions of women who are attempting to combine their efforts in order to overcome their fundamental problems, which range from essential respect for their human rights to the task of combating the violence committed against them.

94. In the case of Mexico, the change in attitudes is taking place not only among the general public, where it has occurred more rapidly, but also in government circles, where efforts have been directed both at introducing various guarantees and controls for the offender and also at providing services for the victim.

95. In the major urban areas such as Mexico City, the problem of crime has become accentuated during the past decade, forcing the Government to accord priority attention to dealing with offences involving violence.

96. An institutional analysis made of the incidence of crime has shown that the percentage of reports of sexual offences was extremely low and that the majority of the victims failed to file a complaint with the Department of Public Prosecution.

97. Moreover, as is the case in other countries, there are no statistics in Mexico on physical assaults on women, which represent a major area of the overall problem of violence against women. Nevertheless, the problem has not been ignored.

98. As was stated at the time the second periodic report of Mexico was presented, in 1989 an extensive review of current legislation governing sexual offences was undertaken and a public inquiry was conducted, the findings of which were forwarded to and studied by the Commission of Inquiry of the Chamber of Deputies as part of a series of measures introduced by the Government of Mexico, through the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Federal District, with a view to reducing the rate of sexual offences committed against women.

99. The public inquiry encompassed civic groups (women's organizations and other community associations) that had carried out extensive work in the area of support for victims of sexual offences and, more generally, on the issue of violence against women.

100. It should be pointed out that the experience gained from the work undertaken jointly with civic groups and associations brought to light the fact that one of the main obstacles that had been encountered by these groups in their endeavours was precisely a lack of linkage between their programmes and the Government's action on the same issues. Such coordination between the public and governmental institutions began in 1989 and has led to the removal of this and other obstacles and to better results through their joint efforts.

101. In addition to the public inquiry referred to above, a scheme involving the establishment of specialized agencies to deal with sexual offences has been mounted, as part of the Criminal Prosecution and Victim Priority Action Programme, in response to the public's demands for changes in the institutional practices of the various prosecution authorities, practices that were seen as humiliating for the victims of such offences.

102. The prime tasks of the specialized agencies are pursued on two interacting levels: providing care and assistance for victims in the form of therapy and information counselling, and making crime investigation as effective as possible. The successful performance of these tasks calls for specialist staff at both levels, i.e. physicians, diagnosticians, psychologists and social workers, as well as judicial and police personnel of the highest calibre.

103. The members of the interdisciplinary team at each specialized agency undergo prior screening based on "psychological profiling to ensure their emotional stability, frustration control, sensitivity in dealing with high-risk victims, integrity and well-balanced psychosexual development".

104. Four such specialized agencies to handle sexual offences were set up in 1989 in the Federal District, and the necessary regulations were issued to enable them to operate as an integral part of the public prosecution service. Also, contacts have been established with those States of the Republic whose Governments have shown an interest in initiating similar programmes.

105. Together with the specialized agencies in the Federal District, three support centres have been established for victims of sexual offences and their families: the Support Therapy Centre (CTA), the Domestic Violence Care Centre (CAVI). and the Missing and Absent Persons Support Centre (CAPEA).