MEXICO CITY, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government will spend 43.4 billion pesos (3.95 billion U.S. dollars) in efforts to eliminate violence against women in 2008, the National Women's Agency (Inmujeres) said on Tuesday.

    This is the largest expenditure the government has ever undertaken to curb violence against women, said Rocio Garcia Gaytan, the president of Inmujeres.

    However, she said the money was not enough to finally end the problem in Mexico, where two in three women fall victim to physical violence.

    Violence against women is caused by inequalities in power relations in Mexican culture, which she said is hard to eradicate. More efforts should be done to protect women and political will is needed to train civil servants and the people, she said.

    Nevertheless, Gaytan noted an improvement in gender equality in the last decade, saying that an increased number of victims have stepped forward to report violence.