Translated by Julie Kawamura
Even though Mexico already places second
in child pornography and fifth in sexual exploitation in the world, the country
still has not instituted the regulations for the General Law to Prevent,
Sanction and Eradicate Crimes in Matters of Human Trafficking, which was
approved one year ago, indicated Patricia Caso, president of the Way Home Foundation
and María Elena Pérez, from Communities of Solidarity.
Caso and Pérez, who are also members of the social and advisory
council of the National Institute of Women, expressed their
concern to the newspaper La Jornada
because, until the regulations are passed, there will be no responsible
institutions or clear plans of action to eradicate this crime that affects
more than eighty thousand people, twenty thousand of whom are minors.
"The regulations should determine clearly the responsibilities of the government offices and institutions; without this, the buck is passed to such an extent that we have cases of criminals that even after being remanded, are released at the end of the day because the authorities disown responsibility."
These illicit crimes, point out Caso
and Pérez, have become the second most profitable after the selling of drugs
and weapons, since they produce approximately USD$9,500,000,000 annually.
"They can sell a young girl for sex multiple times in one day and obtain up to $6,000 pesos [USD$470] per day."
Patricia Caso commented that due to
impunity, this crime grows every day more detrimental to boys, girls, teens and
even adults, Mexican and foreign, as is the case of Central
American migrants. There is also trafficking of European women.
In the country, Caso warned, only seven
states have confronted human trafficking in a formal manner; among them are
the states of Mexico, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo, as well as the Federal
District [Mexico City].
Regrettably, she pointed out, human
trafficking is covered up and facilitated by the authorities themselves: the police, ministerial [investigative] police and prosecutors, judges and civil
servants of all levels.
The exploitation, commerce and sexual tourism is also favored by brothers, fathers, uncles, and any other man that,
in spite of the damaging truth behind the crime, pays large amounts of money
for youths and girls.
The president of the Way Home
Foundation, which deals with cases of women that have been rescued, detailed
that the pimps choose vulnerable victims, poor youths; however, they have begun
to target other social strata as well. They woo the girls and promise them a
happy marriage.
“They even deceive the parents, before whom they appear well-dressed with an automobile, pretending to be professional builders and property owners; the pimps have a modus operandi and system that allows them to trap the girls.”
The cases have increased with the use of the Internet and social networking sites.
Both Caso and Pérez lament the lack of
response of the Secretary of Government Relations regarding their petition to hold a
meeting with the council members of the National Institute of Women in order to
address the matter and also the lack of regulations for the Gender Alert and the
Amber Alert operation, a notification system for missing children and youths. Spanish original