By Bronson Pettitt
Mexico Weekly / March 23, 2011
A new state-produced manual aims to reduce sexist language and machismo within the government.
The Interior Secretariat and the Commission to Prevent and Eliminate Violence against Women on Tuesday unveiled the “Manual for Non-Sexist Language,” which is being distributed to all federal government employees, Reforma reported Wednesday.
The text urges public officials to avoid sexist language, such as “vieja” (a disrespectful slang term used for woman) or phrases that objectify women like: “la mujer de Pedro” (Pedro's woman).
In addition, the manual underscores the importance of matching the genders of nouns and adjectives.
“It's very common that without knowing the gender of the people to whom we refer to we normally use the masculine form,” the manual states, according to Terra News. “What's [worse] is that we use the masculine in adjectives and professions when we know the subject is feminine.”
The manual comes as several states try to address the issue of femicides.
The Citizens' Femicide Watchgroup reported 1,728 femicides in 18 states from January 2009 to June 2010.
This past January, the Gender, Citizens, Labor and Family Equality organization reported there had been 7,765 femicides in the past 18 years.
In mid-February, the Mexico City government announced it had organized an inter-institutional commission to reform the city's criminal code to include femicide as a specific offense. The Legislative Assembly (ALDF) is currently debating the proposed reforms and, if approved, the city would join Chihuahua as the only other state to have a specific offense for femicide.
State of Mexico Gov. Enrique Peña Nieto announced in mid-February the creation of a special office within the state Attorney General's Office that would specialize in crimes against women. He also said the local Congress was considering classifying femicide as a specific offense.
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