Pink Parliament: Enhancing the Voices of Mexican Youth

Mariana Anaya | Monterrey, Mexico

Mexico’s history of politics hasn’t always been very clear. It’s common knowledge for its inhabitants that corruption between politicians has become the norm and, sadly, our newspapers are plagued with stories about money laundering, scams and embezzlements.

Nonetheless, in recent months the Mexican government has been praised for its efforts in representing women in politics. On May 2019 a new reform to the law was passed making parity between genders mandatory in the executive, legislative and judiciary powers.

While today we can celebrate parity as a fact, it had been a fight local activists and students had greatly advocated for.

One of the first events made to promote women empowerment in politics was organized by Girl Up Monterrey under the title of “Pink Parliament."

This event took place In January 2019 with the purpose of motivating more women to speak up for their rights and include them in the political narrative of their state, and took place in the Honorable Congress of the State of Nuevo León in Mexico.

Over 50 girls and teenagers came together to discuss migration, education, healthcare and environment throughout the day.

The girls were mentored by a group of local deputies so they could put their ideas into paper and create their own political proposal, which they later presented in front of the Congress. Jimena Alvarado, one of the participants of the event, said that “it was a great learning experience to be a deputy for a day”.

By encouraging girls to take part in real life scenarios the club officers were able to manifest their desire for more women in politics, as well as communicating with their local representatives to ensure that their voices were heard.

Girl Up Monterrey aims to help create a world where girls are given equal opportunities to lead, and reach their truest potential. Within Mexico, this is just one of the many events we hope to host that will help girls dream bigger, become more confident and learn how to become leaders not only of tomorrow, but of today, as well.