Abusers in Yucatán barred from public office
A new law recently passed in Yucatán would bar men guitly of violence against women from running for office or getting government jobs.
“This law will keep men guilty of rape, workplace harassment and other forms of abuse from serving within the state in any official capacity, and this is certainly a good thing,” said María Eugenia Núñez Zapata, of Igualdad Sustantiva en Yucatán.
The new law has been applauded by Yucatán’s Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal, as well as most of the members of his cabinet.
But critics say that the formulation of the law is too wide in its scope as it also includes men who are late with child support payments.
What is more, several legal scholars argue that this new law is not enforceable since Mexico’s constitution disallows barring anyone from elected office — other than those serving prison sentences.
“This law is pure demagoguery, virtue signaling and populism. There is no way it can be enforced as it is a flagrant violation of the constitution,” said a constitutional scholar, Raúl López Ojeda, during a phone interview with Yucatán Magazine.
Earlier: Man arrested in Yucatán’s 1st revenge porn case
This new law, nicknamed 3 por 3, is the most recent in a series of legal initiatives which seeks to eradicate gender violence in Yucatán and bring perpetrators to justice.
Feminist organizations in Yucatán have also picked up considerable momentum over the past few years thanks in part to their greater visibility and large scale protests.
Mexico recorded 969 femicides in 2021, up slightly from the year before, data from INEGI indicates. Some activists estimate 10 women a day are murdered nationally because of their gender.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography in Mexico (INEGI), 66.1% of all women aged 15 and older in this country have experienced some kind of violence in their lives.
Senior Editor Carlos Rosado van der Gracht is a Mexican expedition/Canadian photographer and adventure leader. Born in Mérida, Carlos holds multimedia, philosophy, and translation degrees from universities in Mexico, Canada and Norway.
