22nd Октябрь 2026

Mexico: CESCR submission on women’s and girls’ economic, social and cultural rights

Equality Now, together with Luminas A.C., Red de Abogadas Indígenas A.C., En Igualdad A.C., Oficina de Defensoría de los Derechos de la Infancia (ODI) and Mano Vuelta A.C., submitted an alternative report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ahead of its review of Mexico. The report examines structural inequalities affecting women, girls and adolescents, including precarious domestic work, child marriage and early unions, unequal care responsibilities, sexual violence, discriminatory family justice practices, barriers to economic protection, and unequal access to sexual and reproductive health and safe education.

What’s inside the submission?

  • An analysis of the barriers preventing women from fully enjoying their economic and social rights, including the persistent informality and lack of social security affecting domestic workers, the unequal distribution and insufficient recognition of unpaid care work, and obstacles to securing adequate child support.
  • An assessment of laws, policies and judicial practices affecting the rights and protection of women, girls and adolescents, including the persistence of child, early and forced marriages and unions, gaps in sexual violence legislation, the use of parental alienation concepts in family justice, and shortcomings in preventing and responding to sexual violence in schools.
  • An examination of gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health services, particularly for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican young people and adolescents, including insufficient funding, limited culturally appropriate care, gaps in contraceptive access, and inconsistent implementation of protocols related to sexual violence.

Who’s this submission for?

  • UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
  • Law and policymakers
  • Legal professionals
  • Government institutions

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Key recommendations

  • Strengthen women’s economic rights and economic security. Adopt enforceable national measures to formalise domestic work and guarantee access to contracts, social security and labour justice; harmonise civil and family legislation to recognise the economic value of unpaid care work; and improve mechanisms for securing adequate and timely child support.
  • Protect women, girls and adolescents from violence and harmful practices. Adopt a comprehensive, funded national strategy to prevent and eradicate child, early and forced marriages and unions; harmonise sexual violence laws around the absence of free and voluntary consent; repeal estupro; and remove parental alienation and analogous concepts from family law and judicial practice.
  • Guarantee equitable access to health and safe education. Increase and better target sexual and reproductive health funding, improve access to contraception and culturally appropriate services for Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, and ensure that all states implement and monitor effective protocols to prevent and respond to sexual violence in schools.

Explore more resources

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From the paradigm of force to that of consent: Towards a comprehensive reform of sexual offences in Mexico

This brief examines Mexico’s 33 criminal codes on rape, estupro, sexual abuse, statutes of limitation and reparations, identifying reforms needed to place consent at the centre of sexual violence laws.

Legislating on sexual violence with a consent-based approach in Latin America and the Caribbean

This guide highlights the need to align legal definitions of sexual violence with international standards by centering on the lack of voluntary and free consent.

Five myths and facts about sexual violence

This practical guide debunks common myths about sexual violence and explains how international human rights standards can strengthen survivor-centred laws and justice systems.

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