Every year more than  2,500 women die in Mexico due to gender-based violence. The National Citizen Femicide Observatory (Observatorio Ciudadano Nacional del Feminicidio, OCNF) cites that at least six women are targeted and killed every day in the country. These are the numbers that run through Meritxell Calderón’s head as she goes to work every day. Meritxell has served as an activist since the age of 14. With more than 20 years of experience, her passion to defend the rights of women and victims of violence inspired her to establish the Iberoamerican Human Rights Network (Red Iberoamericana de Derechos Humanos, Red IDH), a local civil society organization (CSO) in Baja California, in 2004. As Meritxell explains it, “what [the Red IDH] looks to provide is real protection for victims. At some point in my life, the idea of being politically influential led me to work within the political framework, but when I saw that there was a great lack of interest in [the issue of] human rights, I knew I would accomplish nothing [from the inside].” She decided to take matters into her own hands and continue her advocacy through civic activism. Mertixell believes that the only way to make a lasting impact in favor of victims of human rights abuses is to help them gain a voice so that they can defend themselves.

It was this determination and support from other sectors of society that prompted Red IDH to act when the State of Baja California witnessed a steady increase in the number of cases of violence against women, including femicides, in early 2015. That same year, Red IDH requested the activation of a protection mechanism known as the Gender Violence Alert (Alerta de Violencia de Género, AVG). Enacted in 2007, AVG was created to raise public awareness and precipitate state and local government action to address violence against women across the country. The AVG provides a formal process for CSOs to request federal assistance in monitoring state efforts to prevent, respond to, sanction and eradicate violence against women.

In Baja California, when Red IDH requested the AVG, it allowed both the federal government and Red IDH to monitor the state government’s response to the issue. A Working Group (Grupo de Trabajo), chosen by the federal government deliberated and presented the state government with 14 recommendations for the prevention, rapid-response, punishment and eradication of violence against women. Red IDH was convinced that putting pressure on state institutions was key to keeping the issue active in public discussion. Thus, they began to monitor the state government’s implementation of the Working Group's’ recommendations. However, Red IDH lacked knowledge and access to monitoring methodologies, negotiation skills and advocacy tools.

To fill this gap, NDI provided trainings and strategy sessions focused on supporting Red IDH with the skills they needed to analyze the state government’s progress in meeting the indicators set out by the Working Group. They did so within the six month-period granted to the state by the federal government. Red IDH’s work involved more than 300 requests for public information, interviews with public state officials and the revision of state public websites. Red IDH also conducted roundtable discussions and developed a workplan with government agencies.

For Meritxell, NDI’s assistance proved invaluable in consolidating Red IDH’s capacity to engage in dialogue with government authorities. Meritxell explains, “At first, when we presented officials with demands and ambiguous slogans, they had few incentives to meet with us, but now that we arrive with concrete and viable policy proposals, our dialogues with government are more consistent and cordial.” She adds that with NDI’s support, their organization is better able to report on public issues as their “credibility as experts has now increased. Previously we were only perceived as ‘banner activists.’” Public officials are also now more willing to develop public policies in collaboration with CSOs.

Once the monitoring period came to an end, Red IDH presented a report to local authorities and the federal Working Group panel, tasked with assessing Baja California’s progress and ultimately deciding whether or not to declare the Gender Violence Alert in the state. While in the end the Working Group did not issue the AVG in Baja California, the monitoring process resulted in increased data on violence against women, a new state law on equality of treatment and opportunities for men and women, and a state program to prevent, respond to, punish and eradicate violence against women.

Monitoring efforts by Red IDH and the federal government also prompted the state government to establish a follow-up agenda to achieve outstanding goals in its initiative to address gender violence. Through a cooperation agreement, the state government and CSOs have set up four working groups to continue the dialogue between parties. Secretary General of the State Government, Francisco Rueda, notes that the alert not being declared was in many ways a positive outcome because it meant that the recommendations set out by the Red IDH were finally being addressed. He adds, “it does not mean that everything has been resolved but it does show that there is political will and that is why we are collaborating with CSOs that understand the issue.”

Today, CSOs have formally requested activation of the the AVG in at least 14 states (Of these 14 states, Jalisco remains the only case in which the state government itself requested the activation of the AVG). CSOs are currently working through the AVG to monitor state programs in four of those states: Mexico State, Michoacán, Morelos and Jalisco. Having a set precedent of dialogue between CSOs and the state serves as a reference for other state governments that seek to address the problem of gender violence. Thanks to the leadership and initiative of Red IDH,  perhaps other concerned CSOs will feel empowered to call for the activation of the AVG in their state because they now have a better understanding of how to take action and shape the process. “We have come a long way since the alert was requested. We were long overdue on this issue and now it is as if we have advanced 20 years because we have a Law on Equality, a protocol to investigate cases of femicide, a Center for Women’s Justice (Centro de Justicia para Mujeres) and other protections we previously did not have in Baja California,” says Meritxell.

The Working Group consisted of designated representatives from the following institutions: the National Commission to Prevent and Eradicate Violence Against Women (Comisión Nacional para Prevenir y Erradicar la Violencia contra las Mujeres), the National Women's Institute (Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres, INMUJERES), the National Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos) and the Institute for Women of Baja California (Instituto de las Mujeres de Baja California). Additionally, an open call was made for two nation-wide academic experts and two academic experts from Baja California.

Published on September 9, 2016