while mexico has made significant progress in increasing womens representation in elected bodies over recent years making it one of the top oecd countries for female political participation their access to positions of power within both houses of congress remains uneven there are still gender gaps in access to leadership in the judicial and executive branches of government too and in the federal public administration the chapter examines the mechanisms and policies in place to support womens access to positions of power it also explores the barriers to womens participation in public life and in senior positions such as political violence a culture of long hours and limited worklife balance policies