Disappearances of girls and adolescents increase 19%

The cases of girls and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 who disappeared in Mexico and who have not been found grew 19% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to data from the National Search Commission of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob).

Between January and until yesterday, December 21, 2022, in the aforementioned age range, 1,280 girls and adolescents disappeared, while for the same period but in 2021 the cases amounted to 1,075.

In girls between the ages of 10 and 14, at least 420 cases have been registered this year, while by 2021 there were 361. While among girls between the ages of 15 and 19, the number went from 714 to 860.

In general, the number of women who have disappeared and have not been found this year amounts to 3,000, while for 2021 the figure was 2,871 victims, that is, there is an increase of 4.4 percent.

The data on missing women this year contrasts with that of men since in them the cases in general decreased, according to Segob data.

From January to yesterday, there were 6,503 cases, while for 2021 the figure was 7,303, that is, a drop of 10.9 percent.

Come disdain to problematic

The disappearances of women are a reflection of the criminal trends that, to a large extent, organized crime has promoted. However, they are also a sign of the deficiencies and disdain on the part of the government to implement strategies in favor of women, activists said.

Leticia Burgos Ochoa, founder of the Sonoran Feminist Network and the National Network of Alertists, highlighted that unlike the 1970s or 1980s, when women disappeared for political reasons, today it is clearly observed how murders and disappearances are seen strongly linked to crimes such as feminicide or organized crime, without neglecting the upward trend in cases where partner violence or human trafficking is present.

The activist and former legislator added that the problem of the disappearances of women is also framed by a tendency to minimize and, underestimate, the cases by the government.

There is a “disdain” for “not wanting to fully recognize the problem and consequently lack of a strategy,” he said.

For María Josefina de León, mother of Cinthya Mabel Pantoja de León, who disappeared on April 22, 2012 in the municipality of Nuevo Padilla, Tamaulipas, the disappearances of women have increased in recent years for reasons such as the confinement caused by Covid -19; crimes of trafficking, sexual exploitation or those cases related to femicide.

However, the also founder of the Red de Desaparecidos de Tamaulipas warned that despite the fact that the problem has forced progress in the last decade in terms of search and investigation of crime, these are not reflected in the eradication of bad practices that exist within institutions.

He added that there are still Public Ministries that do not serve, that re-victimize, or where the gender perspective is not applied, while they do not make use of the instruments that were created for the search protocols.

There are many things missing in the background, the procedures and protocols have advanced, but the people, those who operate, live in the past, causing families to be subjected to a series of situations of re-victimization that do not allow progress.

Coahuila, red light

There are 520 foreigners not located

A total of 520 foreigners are missing and not located in our country from January 1 to December 21 of this year, this figure is 9.9% more than in the same period, but in 2021.

During that period, according to data from the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO), a total of 473 victims were registered.

Said data indicated that of the total for this year, 463 are men, while 219 are women and nine were classified as indeterminate.

Regarding the location of the disappearances this year, the RNPDNO, which reports to the National Search Commission, explained that Coahuila is the state that concentrated the highest number with a total of 106, in second place is Nuevo León with 101 and in third place is Chiapas with 75 unlocated people.

At the other extreme, Campeche, Tlaxcala and Aguascalientes did not register any event of this type of characteristic and Oaxaca with 1.

On the other hand, it was determined that between January and December 21 of this year, 171 people were located, of whom 159 were found alive (92.8%) and 12 lifeless, that is, 7,025% of the total. (Drafting)

politica@eleconomista.mx