A woman walks past photos of missing women and victims of femicide in Mexico.Margarito Pérez (CUARTOSCURO)
According to the Hidalgo Secretary of Public Security, authorities have found 11 women who have been held in a hotel for more than three months, being forced into sex work and all sorts of chores. Initial investigations indicate that the young women, ten Colombians and one Spaniard, were tricked into coming to Mexico to work. Then they were detained and forced to work at the hotel. Victims reported that the owner stole their wages and physically assaulted them. The United Nations organization registered a 30% increase in the number of people convicted of the crime of human trafficking in Mexico between 2020 and 2021, where the majority of victims, like them, are foreigners and women.
The police received initial information through an anonymous report. It warned of two women being physically attacked by a man who worked at the hotel. They also reported that the man kept them locked in one of the rooms. Police officers went to the location and spoke to the attacker, whom they identified as a manager. After a more thorough search, the uniformed officers found the 11 women. There were two detainees, identified by the initials BMD and CETB, aged 26 and 30, and the young women were turned over to the Attorney General’s Office to conduct the appropriate investigations.
Like these 11 women, most victims of human trafficking in Mexico are migrants and women. “Most of the victims identified in the region share vulnerabilities such as poverty, little or no schooling, lack of employment opportunities, exclusion and marginalization,” explains a report submitted to the Senate of the Republic and conducted by Hispanics in Philanthropy, a kind of Think Tanks on Human Rights in Latin America. Although regional differences are important. In the north of the country there are many migrants who fail in their attempts to enter the United States. This makes it a focal point of international human trafficking. The most touristy areas are used by these migrants for sexual exploitation, while inland areas are more focused on forced labour, according to the report.
The United Nations Organization registered 128 cases of people convicted of the crime of human trafficking in Mexico, while between 2020 and 2021 sex trafficking increased by 30% and the number of victims of human trafficking increased by 67%. The Interior Ministry registered 1,316 victims of human trafficking in 2020, much less than in 2021: 2,202 victims of human trafficking. The numbers continue to climb in a spiral of violence that is difficult to stop.
The Secretary of Public Safety arrested two people for their alleged connection to the crime of human trafficking in Hidalgo SSP Hidalgo
One of the most alarming figures is the number of victims who, on their own, escape from the system of exploitation to which they are subjected, because they finally have the initiative or the ability to notify the authorities, who often seem oblivious to this problem. 41% of trafficking victims are rescued without the help of authorities, according to the UN report. Only 28% were rescued by the authorities and the remaining 11% were rescued by the community.
The problem of human trafficking goes beyond sexual exploitation. As in the Bajio region of Mexico, exploitation is also concentrated in the pure work sphere. The Republic Senate report noted that victims in the San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Nayarit and Jalisco region are usually employed in agriculture or tree felling in Querétaro. In the central region, which includes the states of Mexico, Guerrero, Veracruz and Jalisco, victims are also forced to do forced labour, especially in the construction and textile industries. Poverty and marginalization in the south of the country dooms its people to organized crime and forced labour.
The conclusion of the Senate report is devastating: “The limited efforts in the states were obvious, both in terms of victim protection and in criminal prosecution and prevention. Furthermore, existing policies often lack a gender perspective, which does not allow for an adequate approach and attention to human trafficking.”
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the important information about current events in this country