October, month on a topic that has not been democratized
It is an unavoidable need in the development and integrity of people: Rubén Hernández Duarte, from the Coordination for Gender Equality
Perla Chávez   
Oct 7, 2024
Illustration: Mitzi Cervantes, FAD, UNAM.
Care is an unavoidable need in the development and integrity of people. At least 50% of the UNAM academic community works as caregivers for children, individuals with some type of illness or disability and, in some cases, adults and older adults. For this reason, it is essential to strengthen the idea of co-responsibility in these tasks, says Rubén Hernández Duarte, director of Equality and Non-Discrimination Policies in the Coordination for Gender Equality at UNAM (CIGU).
However, she points out, care has historically not been democratized in terms of those who provide these actions, because there is a disproportionate distribution as they are delegated mostly to women, placing them in unequal conditions that affect their development.
“One of the most important strategies that have been proposed by feminisms, activisms and policies for equality of care is to place the relevance of co-responsibility at the center of collective reflection, that is, that all people, communities, states and instances participate in these activities,” he specifies.
This “involves identifying how each person and each instance can contribute to managing them, democratizing them and changing the imaginary that assumes women as the only or main caregivers.”
In the case of UNAM, it is essential that its community recognizes, first of all, that at some point, all people have required or needed some type of specific care, whether due to different conditions such as vulnerability, illness or disability, among others. .
One of the first ways to transform the paradigm is through the involvement of men in care tasks, as well as all sectors (economic, social, cultural and educational) in recognizing the importance of care to sustain life. .
a right
At the international level, Hernández Duarte says, care has been recognized as a human right, “which implies understanding it in a three-dimensionality that considers self-care, the right of people to receive care and providing it under conditions of equality.”
Meanwhile, self-care, according to the director, is the ability to have time, resources and conditions to focus on personal well-being, “it can be through rest or carrying out activities that allow people to find a comprehensive balance,” indicates.
In Mexico, public life prioritizes paid work and leaves self-care in the background; The above generates crises of time and relationships, which make it difficult for people to find favorable conditions that harmonize productive life with care, because they are not considered productive nor do they have remunerated economic value.
For these reasons, for many people in this country it is difficult to find possibilities or times for rest, recreation, mental health, physical, artistic or cultural activities, even with friends or family, through which they can exercise their care. .
Therefore, Hernández Duarte concludes, “the UNAM must be a harmonious space with the life of care that is committed to dignifying all its needs and links that cross the different sectors of the academic institution, to dignify the lives of all the people involved in these activities.”
