The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

"They kill you, they kidnap you, they rape you": victims of trafficking denounce the dangers they face in Mexico

2022-07-30T23:22:21.597Z


July 30 is the world day against human trafficking. The Mexican government identified 744 victims of trafficking in 2021, according to official data. In the first three months of 2022, 36 cases were reported. Activists say the real numbers are much higher.


Valeria Montes says she left Tegucigalpa in early March to fulfill her dream of working in the United States and studying law.

Her aunt, who lives in Florida, paid a coyote $4,000 to cross her into US territory, but after a land trip that lasted several weeks, the man left the 15-year-old girl lying on a street in the Mexican state. from Puebla.

Between long walks and haphazard journeys in taxis, trucks and buses packed with migrants, the young woman had traveled more than 1,700 kilometers.

"It's very risky and dangerous because

you don't know if you're going to arrive alive or without a leg or an arm

. Sometimes they kill you, kidnap you, rape you. There's everything on that road," says Montes from a National Association shelter. Against Human Trafficking in Society (Anthus), a civil organization located in Puebla.

"He abused the needs of many women," says an alleged victim of the 'Garbage Czar' after his capture

Dec. 30, 202101:45

During her transit through Mexican territory, Montes fell into the hands of a human trafficking network that isolated her to work as a prostitute for several weeks this year.

"They put me as a sex worker. There were several people who controlled me a lot,

the clients even hit me. It was very horrible

, "he says in a panic, in a conversation with Noticias Telemundo.

Montes' case, and that of others who agreed to share their experiences while remaining anonymous for fear of reprisals, is part of the sustained growth in trafficking crimes in Mexico.

Survivors of trafficking schemes receive classes in a room at the Anthus headquarters in Puebla, Mexico, July 28, 2022. Mitzi Cuadra

According to the United Nations Organization, all the countries of the world register cases of trafficking, and every July 30 the world day against human trafficking is celebrated to commemorate the victims who suffer from this scourge.

In its last biannual report, from 2020, the institution denounced that nearly 50,000 people were victims of trafficking in 148 countries. 

"It is estimated that at least 25% of the cases are migrants. It is very high, and there are victims who are not being detected," says Mario Cordero, head of the Organized Crime and Drugs Area of ​​the United Nations Office on Drugs. and Crime (UNODC). 

This office has detected that more than 60% of the victims of human trafficking in the last 15 years have been women and girls.

Most have been trafficked for sexual exploitation.

A few days ago, the State Department published its

Human Trafficking Report, July 2022

in which it is highlighted that "the Government of Mexico does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking", although it also recognizes that it is implementing important measures to achieve that goal.

Independent organizations such as A21 have denounced that

Mexico ranks third in the world

among the countries with the highest rates of human trafficking crimes, only surpassed by Thailand and Cambodia.

According to official data, the Mexican government identified 744 trafficking victims in 2021, compared to 673 in 2020 and 658 in 2019. In the first three months of 2022 alone, 36 cases were reported.

However, the figures vary depending on the period: from 2012 to 2017,

the National Human Rights Commission identified 5,245 victims of human trafficking crimes

, 85% of them girls and women and 15% boys and men.

They denounce a network of child sexual exploitation in the Mexican school system

May 31, 202102:04

"

The authority is no longer doing so many operations,

without that

I do not receive victims.

But the fact that I am not receiving so many people does not mean that there are no victims (...) It is very difficult to know how much it increases because the users we have in the shelter are a minority compared to those who are exploited" , explains Mariana Wenzel, director and co-founder of Anthus.

Various experts and activists have pointed out that the official numbers do not reflect the seriousness of these criminal practices because

the dark figure, that is, the crimes that are not reported in the country, stands at 93.3%

 and the tiny percentage that does occur Before the authorities, almost 95% remain unpunished. 

Montes says, her voice breaking, that nothing prepared her for the hell she experienced in Puebla, first in an official shelter for migrants from which she had to flee.

"I was held there for half a month, but I decided to leave because I didn't have access to talk to my family (...) They were threatening me with death, even beatings, and the officers threatened me with my family," she explains nervously.

This town is the epicenter of human trafficking and sexual slavery in Mexico

May 27, 202003:28

"I was bleeding out"

On March 29, the young woman left the shelter and while wandering the streets of Puebla, not knowing what to do because she did not receive any guidance from the authorities, she was intercepted by some men who were in a van and offered her a job as a waitress. .

Montes boarded the vehicle that took her to San Francisco Totimehuacan, a town located about 10 kilometers south of the city.

I had to have sex with many, many clients."

Valeria Montes survivor of trafficking

"There a pimp asked me if I wanted to prepare alcoholic beverages and wash the glasses at the bar. But it was something else and I had to have sex with many, many clients," he explains sadly.

Montes says that she managed to get out because a man became infatuated that he wanted to sleep with her in a hotel and the traffickers had to take her there.

"But I didn't go in, I ran out. I was drugged because I was in a lot of pain and I was bleeding a lot, where I sat I left blood. They took me to a hospital and I was between life and death, because I was bleeding inside," she says horrified.

They rescue 16 women and girls from a network of sexual exploitation in Colombia

Dec. 10, 202000:26

The US report also points out that the State "failed" to allocate resources for a fund for assistance and reparation for victims of trafficking, and also stresses that general services for victims were inadequate.

The Government did not improve efforts to detect indicators of trafficking among vulnerable populations

and refer potential victims to service providers (shelters or shelters).

Forced recruitment practices continued to be widespread, but the government failed to take steps to hold recruiters accountable.

In addition, the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador approved a tax reform that limits the donations that individuals give to civil society organizations.

Activists and spokespersons have said that

this measure puts the survival of more than 5,000 civil projects at risk.

Former collaborator of Jeffrey Epstein is arrested by the FBI

July 2, 202000:29

"On the state issue we have not received support and that there is a general law that requires the Government that if it does not have shelters it must support civil society that does have them," says Wenzel and explains that, due to bureaucratic processes, this year her shelter lasted seven months without the resources she receives through a government program.

According to official figures cited in the State Department report, only three nongovernmental organizations that operate shelters for victims of trafficking submitted funding requests and received funding from a government program.

[Family that prostituted Mexican girls in the United States is imprisoned]

"To all the organizations that did serious and constant work, all support was withdrawn and right now we are operating with the minimum. We make a lot of efforts to give conferences, courses and workshops to raise funds," says Teresa Ulloa, director of the Regional Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean (CATWLAC). 

US investigators point out that those who engage in human smuggling and trafficking exploit victims, both domestic and foreign, in Mexico;

but they also exploit Mexican people in foreign countries.

To all the organizations that did serious and constant work, all support was withdrawn and right now we are operating with the minimum"

Teresa Ulloa, CATWLAC

In 2021,

Mexican consular officials identified and assisted 1,352 Mexican citizens

who were in a vulnerable situation or victims of crimes such as human trafficking in other countries;

86 were victims of forced labor.

Parents offer their daughters' virginity

Aug. 22, 201801:36

By comparison, authorities in foreign countries identified and assisted 313 Mexican victims of human trafficking in the first six months of 2020.

"No woman should go through what I went through. No girl or adolescent. I hope that the people who do that of prostitution, of selling us, realize the big mistake they are making because they are parents, they are sons, and they were born of a woman (...) in my case

I close my eyes to sleep and I already see that I have a client on me

, "says Montes, between sobs.

99% impunity

Among other things, the State Department report states that,

in 2021, the prosecution and sentencing of traffickers in Mexico did not increase, and no more victims were identified

.

Non-governmental organizations reported that authorities at all levels lacked the necessary knowledge of trafficking laws and failed to effectively identify and refer potential victims, contributing to the low numbers officially recorded.

"Unfortunately, the issue is not on the public agenda of this government. We should have the national plan to prevent, punish and eradicate human trafficking, which is from 2019, but we do not have it. In the states we have very high levels of impunity that reach to 99% of the victims and possible victims, but they are not sought, there are no real prevention actions", explains Ulloa, from CATWLAC. 

[They break a network of "modern slavery" of immigrants in the US and free 100 workers] 

Various investigations indicate that the groups most likely to be involved in trafficking schemes in Mexico are indigenous people, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, informal sector workers, youth from gang-controlled territories, and asylum seekers and migrant people.

In recent years, Mexico has experienced a migratory flow towards the United States with record numbers, the US authorities detected

more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the border with Mexico

in fiscal year 2021, in addition, more than 58,000 people requested refuge in Mexico during the first half of 2022, a situation that is unprecedented in the country.

“I did not know that one had to undress, much less have sex with men.

I imagined it was a normal restaurant, where you served food and there was a show,” explains Julia María, a South American woman who was forced into prostitution for four years in a place in Mexico City.

Victim of white slavery recounts the fear she experienced when she managed to escape

Dec. 9, 202005:06

Julia was captured from her country with a false job offer, which she accepted because her mother was very ill.

But when she arrived in Mexico, she found herself immersed in a nightmare of sexual exploitation that left her with multiple physical and psychological consequences.

Every day she had to produce the largest number of 'tickets', a euphemism used by traffickers to refer to the act of having sex and for which they charged 200 pesos per client (about 9.8 dollars).

One is a foreigner, and alone, so she suffers a lot of mistreatment and discrimination"

Julia Maria, trafficking survivor

"On several occasions I got sick because I don't smoke cigarettes and it gave me a lot of coughs because everyone smoked. Once my left lung was clogged (...) One is a foreigner, and alone, so she suffers a lot of mistreatment and discrimination ", explains Julia, who has been immersed in a legal process, for several years and with the help of CATWLAC, but it has not yet been resolved by the authorities.

The situation of irregular migrants in Mexico is precarious, in most of the current cases.

For this reason, the authorities recently created a working group, specifically dedicated to human trafficking and smuggling in contexts of mobility.

Karla Jacinto looked for love at the age of 12 and ended up a victim of white slavery

Dec. 9, 202007:01

"We are not only interested in getting into the diagnoses, but also in improving the registry and at some point having some care protocol because

many of the people who are trafficked at another time can be treated

, based on the use of coercion to reveal their status. irregular migration," explains Miguel Aguilar, director of the Center for Migratory Studies at the Ministry of the Interior. 

According to calculations by the center, in 2019, human trafficking, that is, its irregular movement between borders,

left a profit of 615 million dollars.

And, in many cases, migrants who contract the services of coyotes can fall into exploitation networks that are part of the businesses of organized crime groups in Mexico.

Various organizations confirm that cartels such as Jalisco Nueva Generación, Sinaloa and Northeast operate in the southeast of the country, where there is a large indigenous population and take advantage of ancestral uses and customs to take young indigenous women, through sums of money. or duress.

Zunduri, the young slave, gives you 4 reasons to value your freedom

Oct. 24, 201903:09

"That happens with girls from 8 to 17 years old and then we are going to find them on the northern border being sexually exploited in prostitution," warns Ulloa.

Since 2016, the center directed by Aguilar has registered a total of 5,144 foreigners in an irregular migratory situation who declared they were victims of crimes.

Of that universe, only nine people, 5%, reported having been victims of trafficking.

"For us it is very important to generate a culture of denunciation (...) We work a lot with this part of self-perception because people do not consider themselves victims, even if they are," explains Aguilar, referring to the low figures of complaints among migrants.

They threaten women to turn them into escorts

Oct. 8, 201802:15

"They work more than 12 or 14 hours"

The State Department report warns of labor exploitation in Mexico and states that the government did not allocate enough funds or staff to the Ministry of Labor to enforce labor laws.

Furthermore, inspectors had a limited mandate to monitor working conditions in informal businesses and farms, which employed more than half of Mexican workers.

Regarding trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, independent organizations have denounced that, in most cases, they are indigenous people who are recruited from the south of Mexico, especially in states such as Chiapas and Oaxaca, with jobs that supposedly they are very attractive and they put them on trucks that go to the north of the country where the most important agricultural sector is.

"They are people who don't speak Spanish, or speak it very little, and they don't have documents, but they live in extreme poverty and their only chance is to work in a field for more than 14 hours. They live there, they sleep there and they feed them." there," explains Cordero, from the UNODC. 

This Latina talks about her fight against the labor exploitation of migrant children in the US.

July 6, 202102:24

This July 30, the UN launches a campaign with videos to identify trafficking, also as many of the victims are transported by plane, an alliance was created with an airline to include brochures on flights so that passengers have all the information necessary to denounce such practices.

"It is oriented to the myths and realities regarding assistance to victims, in itself it is super complex to identify the crime. In addition

, many people do not recognize themselves as victims

, so during the assistance process it is difficult to share information," says Cordero .

[A car factory in Alabama is sued for exploiting migrant children]

The UN advises various organizations to detect and prevent cases of labor trafficking.

This is the case of Mujeres en Defensa de la Mujer, an association from San Quintín, a region of Baja California that is an important agricultural center located near the border with the United States.

The workers are taken away deceived"

Margarita Cruz, activist

"The workers are taken away deceived. They don't even have a place to go and, sometimes, there is no work either. They are left abandoned to their fate in the valley," says Margarita Cruz, director of that organization.

Cruz explains that many people migrate from states such as Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca in the hope of working in the agricultural fields of red fruits such as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries that are managed by international companies that, on occasion, give them letters to access to the H2A visa and work in the United States.

The Department of Labor announces measures to protect undocumented immigrants who suffer labor abuse

July 14, 202200:49

"They work more than 12 or 14 hours in the hope that they will get a visa, and they don't complain. But many times there are big consequences, because they get sick and they don't have benefits (...) They are very excited, but it's a job forced, and after they get sick they don't hire them anymore," says Cruz.

Despite dreams of a better future in the United States, the data reveals a very harsh reality.

Project Polaris, an American organization that prevents and combats human trafficking, runs a free national hotline to receive reports of this crime.

Between 2018 and 2020, they have received more than 15,000 calls from people reporting being victims of labor trafficking.

Most are men and come from Mexico.

The story of human trafficking and prostitution in Mexico

April 20, 201702:52

The labor issue is also a challenge for survivors of trafficking who, on many occasions, lose several years of their lives in exploitation schemes that prevent them from developing from a professional point of view.

"I agree that these people must be removed from the streets. But, beyond clearing our consciences, where are we going to put them? They must be reinserted into the labor market, beyond social programs. In addition, many do not qualify for that help. The issue is that they be free and independent," says Mitzi Cuadra, director of prevention at Anthus.

Flor, a 33-year-old Mexican woman, tries to rebuild her life in the Anthus shelter in Puebla.

After living for eight years with her pimp, who is the father of her two children, she gathered the courage to denounce him and now wants to find a better life.

She laughs when she tells excitedly that she already got her primary school, and now she wants to study high school.

"He tricked me into falling in love, but then the beatings began and he forced me to work on the streets, having sex with men, to support him. It was hell. But I'm not so afraid anymore, studying takes away your anger and you're a better person ", he says hopefully.

If you, or someone you know, is a victim of trafficking in Mexico, you can call 911, or 089, which is a

free anonymous reporting line

.

In the United States, you can call 1-888-373-7888, which is the 

National Human Trafficking Hotline

.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-07-30

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-26T05:15:03.219Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.