The #HeForShe campaign in Mexico is gaining momentum after the country announced that it would officially participate in the international initiative that encourages men and boys to participate in creating a gender equal world during a United Nations event last month.
In Mexico the initiative, which is already being supported in several other Latin American countries, will go under the name #NosotrosPorEllas.
The #HeForShe solidarity movement, which includes ambassadors such as Emma Warson, was created by U.N. Women and attempts to provide a systematic approach to the achievement of gender equality.
The Mexican government has published a video on Facebook promoting the campaign, which seeks to deconst traditional gender roles by showing men in unfamiliar situations.
“If my grandaughters can learn to play soccer, I can learn how to cook,” one man says in the video.
Mexico’s commitment to end gender inequality is an important step for a country in which two-thirds of all women are victims of domestic violence.
According to a Reuters survey from 2012, women in rural Mexico are not only exposed to physical and sexual violence and a culture of male chauvinism but also suffer from poor access to healthcare and other basic amenities.
The country’s president, Enrique Pena Nieto, formally joined the #HeForShe campaign last year but the government’s participation was only recently confirmed.
Government plans to end gender inequality include the opening of more Women’s Justice Centers to make sure women in each state have access to its services. Mexico has also committed to fight gender violence and collect more data on incidents of domestic violence in order to create better solutions to the problem.
