Crime and Violence

More than 4,000 youth victims of sexual exploitation

Graph_sexual_exploitation12/06/13 — The National System of Integral Family Development (Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, DIF) recently released information on the number of sexually exploited youth in Mexico, finding that from 2007 to 2012, 4,015 children and adolescents were the victims of such crime in 25 different states. It broke the data down by year, reporting that it registered 826 cases of sexual exploitation in 2007; 987 in 2008; 851 in 2009; 1,003 in 2010; 201 in 2011; and 227 in 2012. The information was initially shared on the radio program “Informa… con Juan Francisco Rocha.”

The DIF, an organization charged with providing assistance to Mexican families and developing and strengthening their overall well being, collected the data after it received a request from the Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (Instituto Federal de Accesso a la Información y Protección de Datos, IFAI). The IFAI has since criticized the DIF for not performing an exhaustive study, and requested the DIF to collect and release data on sexual exploitation in the remaining seven states: Aguascalientes, the Federal District (Distrito Federal, DF), Guanajuato, Michoacán, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas. News sources also report that the IFAI wants more detailed data on all cases of exploitation presented, including data through 2013, the age of the victims, place of exploitation, and type of exploitation (trafficking, forced service, slavery, organ removal, etc.).

The DIF initially submitted its report to the IFAI, and then a revised version that was presented before IFAI President Gerardo Laveaga. After rejecting the report, the IFAI sent the DIF its new directive, with the understanding that unless the DIF does not have the requested information stored in its archived data and records, it must, by law comply with the request. The IFAI’s request upholds the DIF’s obligations under the its Organic Statute (Estatuto Orgánico); the General Law against Human Trafficking and Protection of its Victims (Ley General para Prevenir Sancionar y Erradicar los Delitos en Materia de Trata de Personas y para la Protección y Asistencia a las Víctimas de estos Delitos); the Unit for Vulnerable Population Assistance (Unidad de Atención a Población Vulnerable); the Directorate General of Inter-institutional Connection (Dirección General de Enlace Interinstitucional); and the Directorate General of Child Protection (Dirección General de Protección a la Infancia).

Sources:

Agencias. “Suman 4 mil las víctimas infantiles de trata.” Vanguardia. December 1, 2013.

“Más de 4 mil menores víctimas de explotación sexual en México. Con Juan F. Rocha.” Grúpo Formula. December 1, 2013.

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