Breathe
By Thelma Elena Pérez Álvarez
In the last columnI outlined some challenges for the current government to make the constitutional reforms on reducing the wage gap between women and men, eradicating sexist violence, expanding rights and access to justice for women, announced by President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to ensure substantive equality, viable.
One of the proposals I developed was the urgent redistributive congruence, in a broad sense, that the 2025 Federal Expenditure Budget (PEF) requires to make the substantive equality they promote a reality, considering the interconnection of three dimensions: remedying the historical economic disadvantage of women, addressing stereotypes, stigmas and violence, as well as strengthening women's power of action and participation.
The 2025 Economic Package does not reflect an interest in guaranteeing the conditions for substantive equality to be achieved in practice, and even deepens intersectional inequalities and limits resources to address structural inequalities.
For example, Alejandra Macías Sánchez, Executive Director of the Center for Economic and Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP), found that "eight out of every ten pesos of the budget are already committed".found that "eight out of every ten pesos of the budget are already committed", since 80% of the 9.2 trillion pesos of total spending will be allocated to pensions, debt payments and transfers to states and municipalities.
Although Annex 13 of the PEF 2025 "Expenditures for Equality between Women and Men" increased by 9.5% with respect to 2024, (a total of 508 thousand 573.1 million pesos), 52.5% of these resources are concentrated in social programs, such as the Universal Pension for the Elderly ( 714 thousand 768 pesos) and the Rita Cetina Universal Basic Education Scholarship (61 billion 298 million 019 thousand 675 pesos). As we know, one of the dilemmas of these programs is that they do not remedy the historical economic disadvantage of women, and there are still no concrete actions reported to reduce the wage gap between women and men, beyond the increase in the minimum wage.
In terms of addressing stereotypes, stigmas and violence, essential actions to guarantee women's right to a life free of violence, such as the program Promoting Care and Prevention of Violence against Women, shows a decrease of 56 million 302 thousand 969 compared to 2024 and the total is 307 million 212 thousand 978 pesos.
Also, the Support Program for Specialized Shelters for Women Victims of Gender Violence, their daughters and sons, which carries out the prevention of femicides and restitution of human rights, presents a reduction of 4.3% with respect to 2023. That is to say, 21.8 million pesos less as it does not adjust to inflation or prioritize the progressiveness of the budget. The Center for Analysis and Research (Fundar) and the National Network of Refugees (Red Nacional de Refugios) have demonstrated budget reductions in 2019, 2021, 2022 and stagnation of resources in 2023 and 2024.
Regarding the strengthening of women's power of action and participation, one of the main doubts is how to carry it out, if the PEF 2025 shows a decrease in fundamental resources such as those destined to education, which decreased by 1.2% compared to 2024. Although this item prioritizes basic education, it decreases resources by up to 16.1% in higher and postgraduate education.
Regarding health, the cut is 11% (113 thousand 582.9 million pesos) compared to 2024. The CIEP analyzed that this reduction will affect the quality and quantity of health services and will not allow achieving the objectives of universality in health and the strengthening of IMSS-BIENESTAR. In addition, there is still no guarantee of the creation of the National Care System and the Culture item (12,081 billion 496 thousand pesos), decreased 27.8% with respect to the budget in 2024.
However, there are increases that could be positive in the Support Program for Women's Instances in the Federal Entities (933 thousand 088 pesos).Maternal, sexual and reproductive health ( 263 million 435 thousand 480 pesos). Daycare services of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) (1,240 million, 637,735 pesos). Strengthening of Substantive Equality between Women and Men (106 million 010 thousand 962 pesos). Regarding these increases, it will be necessary to know whether the expenditure of resources will be consistent with the purposes described.
From the budget for the first year of President Sheinbaum's government, republican austerity emerges, a principle that instructs the State to fight social inequality and manage national resources and assets with efficiency, transparency and honesty. This principle constitutes one of the contradictions of the Fourth Transformation (4T), a political model that the president said she would give continuity to with her own style.
So far, it seems that Claudia Sheinbaum's style in giving continuity to the 4T is to perpetuate the reproduction of institutional violence. institutional violence against women, since given the selection in the distribution of public money in the PEF 2025, it would be the government itself who voluntarily or involuntarily hinders or prevents the enjoyment and exercise of women's human rights and their access to public policies to prevent, address, investigate, punish and eradicate different types of violence.
- Thelma Elena Pérez Álvarez teaches digital communication, advertising and marketing at universities in Spain and Mexico. She actively works for the Mexican State to guarantee the human right to media and information literacy.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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