If you have ever wondered what the participation of indigenous women in the economy is like in Mexico, here is an analysis of how they are immersed in the workplace.
Mexico has a population that is mostly composed of women.according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi); by 2023 there were about 67 million women residing in the country.which represented a 51.7 % of population total.
Of this figure, there is an estimated 3.6 million indigenous womenwhich face some inequalities at the time of their active participation in Mexico's economy.
Current Context of Mexican Indigenous Women
According to Inegi data, by 2023, there were 39.2 million indigenous people in Mexico..
From this figure, Inegi makes a further segmentation to find out how many people identify themselves as part of this group and at the same time speak an indigenous languageThis brings us to the figure of 7 million people, of which 52.3% are women. This is equivalent to more than 3.6 million inhabitants.
That is to say, there is a majority of indigenous women in Mexico and some inequalities are evident. For example, Inegi points out that 24% of indigenous women between 3 and 17 years of age do not attend school.. This contrasts with the 12.3% of women who do not belong to an indigenous people.i.e., it is almost twice as much.
What is the participation of indigenous women in Mexico's economy?
Moving on to the subject of work environment, only 45.2% of indigenous women over the age of 12 are economically active.which contrasts with the 86.1% of indigenous men.
If we compare this figure with women who are not indigenous and who are economically activethey r49%, compared to 75.7% for men. that do not belong to any indigenous population.
That is to say that there is a difference of 3.8% between indigenous and non-indigenous women with respect to their active participation in the country's economy.. It is striking, however, that in both cases there is a large gap between men and women, so that gender continues to be an intersectionality that we cannot leave aside..
It is important to note the intersectional discriminationwhich is defined as follows:
"[It is] the variety of structural sources of inequality that maintain reciprocal relationships, emphasizing that gender, ethnicity, class or sexual orientation, for example, are socially constructed categories that are interrelated."
Thus, we can see that some inequalities are intersectional and are also cross-cut by gender.The following is the case of indigenous women and their participation in Mexico's economy.
The existence and relevance of International Indigenous Women's Day
The International Indigenous Women's Day will be commemorated on September 5.. The date was established in 1983 during the Second Meeting of Organizations and Movements of the Americas, which took place in Tiahuanaco (Bolivia).
On this day Bartolina Sisa is honored, indigenous Aymara leader who was assassinated for resisting Spanish colonial rule. Sisa died in La Paz (Bolivia) on September 5, 1782.
The existence of this ephemeris works to question historical inequalities faced by indigenous womenwhich in many cases translate to discrimination, poverty and violence.
Did you know this data about the participation of indigenous women in work environments in Mexico?
With information from CNDHInegi (1 y 2), Platero Méndez Raquel "Are gender equality policies permeable to debates on intersectionality? A reflection based on the Spanish case" (quote obtained from Intersectional discrimination, development of the concept, inclusion in the jurisprudence of the International Human Rights Protection System, the concept in national jurisprudence.)
