Worrying figures of rising crime against women in Mexico

According to a poll conducted by the statistics office, crime against women and girls has escalated in Mexico over the past five years. Seven out of ten respondents claimed they had experienced abuse of some kind.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Graciela Marquez, president of the national statistics agency INEGI, stated that violence against women “remains an issue in the country and constitutes a public health crisis.”

The rising prevalence of femicide in Mexico—the death of women and girls because of their gender—has provoked protracted demonstrations. Every day, on average, 10 women are killed, and tens of thousands are reported missing.

INEGI projected that more than 70% of the 50.5 million women and girls over the age of 15 had suffered some form of violence, an increase of four percentage points since the study was last conducted in 2016.

The most significant rise in sexual assault reports was an eight percentage point increase to reach 50% of all women polled, 23% of whom reported having been victims in the previous 12 months.

According to INEGI, majority of women who experienced physical or sexual assault did not formally report their assailant or request assistance from a government agency.

Younger, single, urban, educated women were more likely to report being victims of violence.

Source: REUTERS