NGOs urge Sheinbaum to heed the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

MEXICO CITY (apro).- The National Citizen Observatory on Femicide and the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations All Rights for All (Red TDT) urged Claudia Sheinbaum's government to address the 90 recommendations made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which considered that structural violence against women continues in Mexico.

After CEDAW released its Tenth Periodic Review of the situation in Mexico from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday the 7th, organizations echoed the concerns of the experts who make up the treaty body "who highlight the serious human rights crisis facing girls, adolescents, and women in the country."

They also urgently called for "addressing the structural violence, impunity, and lack of policy that continue to put the lives and dignity of millions of women in Mexico at risk."

In their joint statement, the organizations reiterated the CEDAW Committee's main observations, following the report presented by Mexico on June 17 and 18, headed by the Secretary of Women's Affairs, Citlalli Hernández.

Among the body's concerns is that "violence against women and girls in Mexico has increased, and is perpetrated by both state and non-state actors, including organized crime," a violence that includes "disappearances, torture, sexual violence, and femicides, often involving firearms."

According to the CEDAW Committee's observations, the serious situation facing women is worsening "due to the State's ineffective response and its deficient security and arms control policies." It noted that recommendations made in a previous review regarding the strengthening of mechanisms such as the Gender Violence Alert remain unheeded.

After questioning the "uneven application of gender-sensitive protocols," the committee of experts made 29 recommendations to "harmonize laws, collect accurate data, and ensure transformative reparations," encouraging the "strengthening of shelters and the improvement of the response to disappearances."

For the experts, the high number of women human rights defenders and journalists who have been murdered, disappeared, and attacked through threats, physical violence, surveillance, digital attacks, and criminalization is alarming, with a significant proportion of these attacks perpetrated or tolerated by state actors.

Given the seriousness of the violence against women defenders, the CEDAW Committee recommended addressing the shortcomings of bodies such as the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, ensuring that it has sufficient resources and coordinates with local bodies on "prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations that guarantee full reparation for harm and the prosecution of those responsible for the attacks."

Among the issues of concern, the committee highlighted that girls, adolescents, and women, especially those in marginalized situations, are at "risk of trafficking and forced labor" given the persistence of "property-related violence and limited economic opportunities."

The CEDAW Committee urged sanctioning officials "who violate the law and establishing mechanisms to combat corruption," strengthening victim support, increasing resources for labor inspections, and recommending "collecting and analyzing data to design better public policies and implementing comprehensive prevention strategies."

Regarding the right to abortion, the organization lamented the lack of guarantees for accessing this right, which "continues to be obstructed and legally condemned despite advances in federal legislation," stemming from "stigma and resistance from health care workers."

After recommending training for health personnel, CEDAW encouraged "harmonizing criminal provisions with legislative advances regarding access to abortion, ensuring the consistent application of Mexican Official Standard 046 without requiring victims of sexual violence to submit police reports or judicial evidence of rape."

As urgent measures, CEDAW called on the Mexican State to "address femicide as a national priority"; harmonize criminal legislation on the matter throughout the country, guarantee investigations with a gender perspective, and punish those responsible for femicides and disappearances.

She also called for "guaranteeing justice and reparation for victims of sexual violence and torture; implementing effective mechanisms for reporting, care, and transformative reparation, including access to services in rural and indigenous areas."

The social organizations requested a "high-level" meeting within 60 days to establish a Monitoring Commission for Compliance with the CEDAW Recommendations. This Commission is coordinated by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Women's Affairs. They asked to be included in the Commission, along with academics and international organizations.

They also requested that the commission be given full access to information on its activities and assessments and that a work agenda be established "with public reports every six months, detailing progress, setbacks, and obstacles to compliance with the recommendations."