Program: Gender Equity

Gender equity is a core value of the Center.

From the Center’s inauguration we have consistently enrolled more women than men and focused on women’s empowerment. In fact, the current generation of our young women may be experiencing the most rapid change ever in their status in society because of the many global cultural influences profoundly affecting women’s traditionally secondary role in Oaxaca. Our goal is to be an assertive participant in fostering this positive change.

In 2008 we formed a Women’s Support Group to offer lectures, films and discussions on such topics as sexual and reproductive rights, teenage pregnancy, and violence in families and in dating relationships.

By 2010 we realized that a more effective approach would be to engage all our students, both female and male,  in a Center-wide program of discussions and workshops on gender inequity and role conflict. 

To strengthen the dialogue we have added additional topics to those mentioned above: stereotyping gender roles, sexual harassment, sexuality and sexually transmitted infections, legal rights and LGBT. Over the past four years we have advanced this agenda through lectures and panels, workshops, films and discussions. Our commitment is to re-educate our staff and students, to deconstruct the myths and beliefs at the root of the inequities of opportunity for women and to provide a basis for both our young women and young men to come to an understanding of and movement towards the benefits for them in gender equity.

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