Quintana Roo Launches Maya Women’s Rights Charter

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The state of Quintana Roo has joined the initiative to translate the Women's Rights Charter into an indigenous language, presenting the content of this charter translated into the Maya language through a video.

In the framework of the Year of the Indigenous Woman, promoted by the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the Secretariat for Women (Semujeres) of Quintana Roo highlighted its goal of emphasizing and making visible the participation of women from the Maya zone.

On September 5, during the national presentation of the charter at the People's Conference, the creation of written and audiovisual material in 27 languages was announced, involving work in 15 federal entities. On that occasion, Quintana Roo appeared on the list of states that were still working on the translation.

"In commemoration of the International Day of the Indigenous Woman (observed on September 5), the Secretariat for Women of Quintana Roo translated the content of the charter into Maya and presented it in a video to be heard and seen by Maya communities, through social networks," shared Semujeres on its social media accounts. The Secretariat is headed by Esther Burgos Jiménez.

The charter outlines 15 basic rights with the objective of informing Mexican women, girls, and adolescents to strengthen substantive equality and the eradication of violence.

These are the right to be free and happy; the right to live in a family, in peace and with well-being; the right to education; the right to health; the right to housing; community rights; the right to an identity and to have autonomy; the right to culture; the right to free expression and free movement; access and the right to justice; the right to political participation; digital rights; the rights of girls and adolescents; the right to dignified work and equal pay; and the right to a life free from violence.

The charter in Spanish is available at a provided link, and the content in Maya can be found at another provided link.

According to the National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID) by Inegi, Quintana Roo is the fifth-ranked entity nationally with the highest percentage of indigenous population, representing 12.9 percent of the population, the majority of whom are of Maya ethnicity.

"The Maya language represents us, as Quintana Roo is the fourth entity with the most women and men who speak an indigenous language; 14.1% of the population communicates in Maya," it was reported from the same source.

The largest number of women who speak Maya are found in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, José María Morelos, Lázaro Cárdenas, Tulum, and Bacalar. In Felipe Carrillo Puerto, it is estimated that they are 58.8 percent of the population; in José María Morelos, 48.8 percent; Lázaro Cárdenas, 35.8 percent; Tulum, 24.8 percent; and Bacalar, 21.3 percent, according to the Population and Housing Census by Inegi.