25N: Context and labor violence experienced by women in Mexico

November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, here we tell you the relevance of this event and explain what types of violence exist in the workplace.

Any woman can be exposed to violence at some stage of her life., regardless of their social, cultural or economic context. However, situations may be more recurrent if they are refugees, migrants, indigenous, living with a disability, LBTQ+ or because of their age..

Here we take a look at this subject to explain relevance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which has been commemorated every November 25 since the The United Nations (UN) designated this event in 1999.

Why is there an International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women?

As context, this day exists to honor the memory of activists Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal, who were assassinated on November 25, 1960. in the Dominican Republic on the orders of then President Rafael Trujillo. These women opposed to the Trujillo dictatorship.

The UN defines violence against women as:

«Any act based on belonging to the female sex that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, as well as threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.».

In what environments does it occur and what are the types of violence that exist?

The UN points out that there are various settings in which physical, sexual and psychological violence can occur. towards women.

• FamilyThe term "domestic violence" covers maltreatment, sexual abuse in the home, dowry-related violence and female genital mutilation.
• In the communityThe following are some of the most common forms of violence against women: rape, harassment, intimidation, trafficking in women and forced prostitution.
• In the work or schoolregardless of the hierarchical relationship, consisting of an act or omission in abuse of power that damages the victim's self-esteem, health, integrity, freedom and safety.
• In the State.

On the other hand, we also there are other types of violence to the women we must name.

• Digital violenceThe term "cyberbullying" covers the misuse of images, the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyberbullying, online threats, the falsification of images using artificial intelligence and the publication of private information.
• Economic violenceThe woman's economic status: is manifested through limitations aimed at controlling the income of a woman's economic perceptions. This is also the case when a woman receives a lower salary in the work environment, but performs the same activity as a man.
• Property violenceTheft, destruction, retention of objects, personal documents, property and patrimonial rights.

What is the context of violence experienced by women in Mexico?

Based on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) and its Encuesta Nacional sobre la Dinámica de las Relaciones en los Hogares 2021 (ENDIREH), 70.1% of the 100% of Mexican women surveyed aged 15 years and older. have suffered at least one incident of violence in their lifetime.

The figure speaks for itself, the situation is more worrying if we compare the data with the 2016 ENDIREH.. There is a increase of 4%, in 2016 the figure was 66.1%.

The type of violence experienced by the majority of respondents in 2021 was psychological (51.6%), followed by sexual (49.7%), physical (34.7%) and economic/domestic (27.4%). It should be noted that Respondents could mention more than one type of violence., The figures therefore add up to more than 100%.

Some of the states where violence against women is most prevalent are the State of Mexico, Mexico City, Querétaro, Sonora, Coahuila and Jalisco..

On the other hand, this is an issue of international relevance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 out of every 3 women worldwide suffers physical and/or sexual violence., The majority of them are in an intimate relationship.

What violence are women exposed to in the workplace and what progress has been made in this area in Mexico?

Women are exposed to various forms of violence in their jobs. In fact, the 2021 ENDIREH has a specific section for labor data, which allows us to have an overview of all the challenges that still exist in Mexico.

Of the total number of women surveyed in the ENDIREH, 27.9% responded that they had experienced an episode of violence at work. The highest prevalence of violence occurred in the states of Chihuahua, CDMX and Baja California.

The people who committed the acts of violence were mostly co-workers, bosses, coordinators and clients. In addition, the types of violence that occurred at the facilities labor were sexual (53%), psychological (43.6%) and physical (3.4%)..

To exemplify, the situations of violence most frequently mentioned by the survey respondents were:

• have less opportunity than a man for promotion;
• receive less pay or benefits than a man doing the same job or holding the same position;
• experience limitations to perform tasks that were reserved for him to do in the past. a man;
• have limited their professional development to favor a man;
• order pregnancy tests in the contracting process;
• be farewell o not to renew contract for being pregnant.

While all of the above situations are very serious, one of the biggest challenges in the Mexican labor environment is that many women are not aware of the protocols they had to follow to deal with cases of violence.. The ENDIREH states that 72.7% of the respondents did not know if there was a protocol in relation to this issue in their workspace..

This is evidence of the urgency for companies to mention the steps to be followed internally so that a woman can expose a case of violence. that you are living, this should be done from the moment of hiring.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is a good time for us to each organization should question how it is working to reduce the number of episodes of violence in the workplace..

Did you know the context in which Mexico finds itself in the progress to eliminate violence against women?

With information from Inmujeres, UNAM Gazette, UN (1 p. 3 and 2) Inegi (1 p. 47-55 and 2 p. 8) Government of Mexico y WHO

Research and editing by José Manuel Ríos and Rodrigo Hernández