Views from Bloomberg, Este Pais, Al Jazeera and Foreign Policy
The news
Mexico is set to elect its first female president this weekend; former mayor of Mexico City Claudia Sheinbaum is leading in the polls, while former senator Xóchitl Gálvez is lagging behind.
The election would mark a milestone for gender parity in the country, and it comes at a time when gender inequality and security are top of mind for voters. More than 2.5 million women work in a largely unregulated domestic work sector, where they often face abuse. At the same time, the number of missing people in Mexico now exceeds 110,000 and murders are on the rise.
SIGNALS
Outgoing President López Obrador leaves voters seeking security
Mexico’s current president, Andres Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), has implemented policies that have significantly reduced poverty rates, but his security record is poorer, leaving voters to expect more from the next president . During the 2018 election campaign, AMLO promised to investigate missing persons cases, but some families accused him of “focusing more on improving his own image than producing substantive results.” Al Jazeera noted. Government funds, meanwhile, have favored infrastructure projects, while murders have increased. Some mothers of missing children say they are ambivalent, and “don’t believe anything” in the comments made on the trail.
A female president does not necessarily have a feminist agenda
Although two candidates are leading the race, “it is unclear how much this will change the reality for working women across the country,” noted the Associated Press. Gaps in pay and influence still exist between men and women in Mexico, with only 47% of women active in the workforce compared to 76% of men, while 2.5 million domestic workers – many women – live in a form of “modern slavery”. .” A woman in the national palace does not mean she will prioritize equality, abortion rights advocate Ninde MolRe wrote in Este Pais, because others have “used their political positions to get where they are, but they must then conform to party discipline.”
Sheinbaum’s filing indicates how she might deviate from AMLO’s legacy
Election candidate Claudia Sheinbaum has handled gender issues in Mexico City in a markedly different way than the federal government, including creating more day care centers and overseeing a decline in the killings of women and girls. She also promised to place more female lawyers in prosecutors’ offices and to combat domestic violence, Foreign Policy reported. Analysts say Sheinbaum, a physicist by training, could also pursue policies more focused on climate change. Although Sheinbaum has largely chosen to avoid talking about specific security policies during the presidential debates, El Universal noted that she could also increase the National Guard’s capacity as first responders.
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