Feminist perspectives on the implementation of the violence against women alert in Mexico City: advances, challenges and transformations

Abstract

Over the past decades, the feminist movement has brought visibility to the increase and intensification of feminicidal violence, which, to a certain extent, is a result of the inadequate intervention by the State. In the nation's capital, feminist activists, civil society organizations, academia, and some allies within the government—mostly feminists—have played a key role in influencing the Violence Against Women Alert, an emergency mechanism designed to address this issue. Within this context, the objective of this article is to analyze the process of feminist reflection within state institutions—those concerned with prevention, security, and justice—as well as the implications of their intervention in institutional practices that reproduce violence against women. This study adopts a feminist methodology, grounded in the lived experiences of the women involved in this mechanism. Through semi-structured interviews with women who self-identify as feminists, the analysis of institutional documents—which inscribe power relations—and ethnographic approaches, this research examines the mechanism from a processual and relational perspective. Progress toward recognizing women's human right to a life free from violence has been gradual, and the Violence Against Women Alert serves as a tool that enables the exercise of this right. In the context of political alternation, feminist perspectives face challenges and generate tensions, yet they succeed in influencing public policy processes. These advances have materialized in everyday practices that reshape feminist intervention and impact certain structural dimensions of the reproduction of violence against women. The experience of implementing this mechanism in the local context offers insights into the processes, reflections, and feminist interventions that contribute to reducing feminicidal violence.