Empowering women and girls in Mexican communities

The serious context of violence against women in Mexico requires more and more work and resources for the organizations that are addressing the problem. Currently, Fondo Semillas finances and accompanies 25 groups working on this issue.

 The participation of organized civil society is fundamental in both the attention to and prevention of violence. The strategies that are part of the preventive perspective of violence against women include the promotion of women’s leadership and autonomy so that they have the tools that they need to participate in decision-making in their communities and reduce inequality.

 60% of the groups we support thanks to you have reported that the population they work with increased their participation and influence in decision-making processes during this period, including 348 girls and women.

 An example of this is the organization Más sueños, which has supported three women who have become leaders in their community of San Pedro, Xalostoc, in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, by promoting violence-free spaces for practicing sports.

More than 90% of the groups reported that the population they work with knows and is more aware of their rights,  which has been translated into more than 12,397 girls and women. All of the accompanied groups indicated that they have increased or improved the services they offer. Some organizations, such as Tochan, Corazón Verde, or Justicia para nuestras Hijas, promote the economic autonomy of women who are more vulnerable to violence. The activities they promote include the creation of women’s cooperatives from ethnic groups in Cuetzalan, Puebla, and the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo. Other groups offer training and employment opportunities for women.

The organizations also work to strengthen institutional capacity and commitment to service delivery. In this period, they were able to change their practices in favor of the rights of girls, cisgender, and trans* women as a result of their work. The way they achieve this is by training public servants, such as the organization Justicia para nuestras Hijas, who frequently train police officers on the rights of victims of family and gender-based violence, so that they can act as guarantors for women who experience such violence.

Thank you for always supporting us.

Testimonial:

“During the trajectory of collective and individual work, we have met with male participants and people far from the defense of human rights. We believe that they come closer because the cultural and educational activities that we promote help to sensibilize and raise awareness among the vast majority of these people. Their participation and interest have increased, as well as the questioning of their surroundings. We could not mention one person in particular, but in the process, we have met people who have gone from showing a lack of interest to constant participation, not only in our activities but also in activities in general in favor of human rights. This has been a significant advance in the social and cultural transformation of communities (Colectiva Chicatanas, Oaxaca).