Girls and adolescents, one in five cases of disappearance in the country

24.7% of the total cases of disappearance and non-location in Mexico correspond to women and girls who have not been located; More than 50% of the victims are concentrated in eight states, reported the Mexican Institute for Human Rights and Democracy (IMDHD) and the National Citizen Observatory of Femicide (OCNF).

Through the report: “Diagnosis of missing women”, the NGOs detailed that among the more than 100,000 missing and unaccounted for people, some 25,000 are female in an age range, mainly between 15 and 19 years.

“This range is repeated being double or even triple the age ranges that follow it. The foregoing reflects the most difficult challenge for the authorities, since from this they must design public policies focused on the immediate search for cases of adolescents and young women, at the same time as implementing projects that can prevent and protect this population from continue to be a victim of disappearance,” the report detailed.

According to the document, the general trend of cases of missing girls and women, from the year 2000 onwards, has been on the rise, reporting more than 1,000 cases annually since 2011.

However, since 2020, reports of disappearances have increased to more than 2,000 per year, a “worrying” issue that also gave rise to 2021 registering the highest peak of missing persons, with a total of 2,729 cases.

“Because of the foregoing, it is necessary for the Mexican state, from the federal and state levels, to make visible the problem of the disappearance of girls and women as part of femicide violence and urgently formulate and implement a public policy focused on cities and municipalities. that concentrate the largest number of cases, ”said the institute.

Cities with the most disappearances

The report revealed that Puebla, Veracruz, Guerrero, Nuevo León, Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Colima and Jalisco are the entities where more than 50% of the cases are concentrated and which have Violence Alerts of Current gender.

At the press conference to present the report, Patricia Morales, from IMDHD, pointed out that in CDMX every day, on average, 20 women disappear, according to other NGOs.

While in the municipalities of Puebla that belong to the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Puebla-Tlaxcala, they accumulate 584 cases of disappearance of women, girls and adolescents daily.

Luz Estrada, director of the OCNF, said that the objective of the report is that local governments know the recommendations of the diagnosis made and that they attend to the disappearance of women in relation to other crimes.

In the report, experts on the subject recommended “priority actions”, with strategic plans for prevention, investigation and search for women, girls and adolescents.

It is necessary to “guarantee that there is continuous monitoring and attention to the investigation files of these cases, with special emphasis on reactivating those of long standing, and on responding immediately and in compliance with national and international standards and protocols on new cases. cases,” the report said.

diego.aguilar@eleconomista.mx