No justice for infant femicide in Mexico

From January 2017 to February 2018, at least 22 minors have been sexually abused in the State of Mexico , the state where the majority of these cases take place.

The state's General Attorney's Office reported that during this same period, they detained 17 people linked to the murder of at least 15 minors , and one of them has already been sentenced to life in prison.

In the majority of cases, the alleged murderers were fathers, step-fathers, uncles, and neighbors of the victims , which shows that the criminals are quite close to the victims .

According to the investigations, in 2017 there were 7 cases, and in 2018, state authorities investigated 9 cases. This year, state authorities are investigating 6 infant femicides , a situation that worries authorities because, at this rate, there will be many more cases this year.

Another worrying number is the disparity in the figures published, which make no sense. For example, a report from the National Security System (SNSP) titled Information about Violence Against Women reveals that in 2018, 14 girls between 1 and 17 years were murdered in the state of Mexico , in contrast with local authorities, who only reported 6 cases.

The same federal department revealed that from 2015 to 2018 , the number of girls under 17 murdered doubled throughout the country, as it went from 40 to 86.

According to statistics, the S tate of Mexico holds the first place in infant femicide with 14 girls murdered; followed by Chihuahua , with 10 murders, and Nuevo León , with 8 victims, according to the SNSP .

Nevertheless, according to a non-profit organization called Communication and Information of Women A.C. (CIMAC) , there are other numbers that could reveal that infant femicides could be much higher.

According to numbers from the Female Deaths with Homicide Presumption (DFPH ), at least 166 girls between 0 and 14 years were the victims of femicide in the State of Mexico between 2012 and 2016, as reported by the INEGI .

From these murders, 25% was carried out with a firearm , 19% were strangled , 12% were attacked with sharp objects , and 3% were drowned .

Looking for their missing girls

In late 2018 and in early 2019, an outbreak of deaths and attacks against girls has taken over the State of Mexico , who went missing and were searched for by their families and neighbors, who organized search groups to look for the girls .

The profile of a murderer

Despite the increase of femicides , which affects a large number of girls and teenagers , there isn't a profile that allows identifying an aggressor and a potential murderer , explains Juan Martín Pérez García , the director of the Children's Right Network in Mexico (Redim ).

“For a long time, femicides weren't registered, especially the murders of girls, boys, and minors under 17 , it's a painful omission , where they avoided registering each victim with their characteristics and vulnerability,” Pérez García said.

In the last 12 years, at least 7,000 minors have gone missing in Mexico

, “it has a direct relation with the number of femicides, as in the case of Valeria in Nezahualcóyotl or Valeria in Melchor Ocampo, who first when missing and then were found dead,” said the expert.

Pérez García explained that in the case of teenagers and young women , their aggressor is usually someone they know, their boyfriend, husband, or partner ; in the case of girls , it's usually their step-father, a neighbor, or a family friend , it is rarely a stranger.

“ Infant femicide is a crime that should be punished and (a case) where it is not justified if the aggressor was drunk, drugged, or if he wants to claim he has dementia; disinhibitors and behavior alterations help to lower their sentence ,” Pérez García said.

The gender alert is useless without political will: Redim

The expert explains that the number of femicides doubled, as it increased from 407 to 834 in the last four years, according to the national trend revealed by the SNSP .

Juan Martín Pérez

claims the Gender Alert is useless if there is no political will, as many of the 100 municipalities with the highest number of femicides are the places where the Gender Alert has been implemented, including Ecatepec and Chimalhuacán , but cases don't decrease.

In the State of Mexico , the state that registered the highest number of femicides in the last year, the municipalities were the majority of the cases were registered are Ecatepec , with 14 victims; Chimalhuacán and Nezahualcóyotl , with 9 each; Tecámac and Zumpango , with 6 victims; Atizapán de Zaragoza , Chalco , and Naucalpan de Juárez , with 4 victims each; as well as Huixquilucan , Ixtapaluca , and Nicolás Romero , with three victims each.

It is urgent to implement new strategies and plans to protect girls throughout the country, as the increasing femicide rates are alarming .

9 women are murdered in Mexico everyday

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