In 2021, one in 10 female homicide victims nationwide was a girl or adolescent. In general terms, the most dangerous entity for minors was Guanajuato.
This is revealed by data analyzed by the organization Mexico United Against Crime (MUCD) in the fourth edition of its report Atlas of Homicides Mexico 2021, which specifies that during the past year 3,820 women were murdered, of which 12.9% were girls or adolescents. This means 493 minors killed.
For Daniela Osorio, member of the direction of research and public policies of MUCD and creator of the atlas, making this type of data known is important, “because just if what we want is to carry out effective and efficient prevention, we have to attend to each of the populations specifically”.
According to the report, in 2021 alone, minors in Guanajuato represented 14% of all female victims, while for men this group of victims only represented 5% of the total.
The cases of Nicole, Isabel and Fanny
One of the first cases of violent deaths of girls reported in 2021 was that of seven-year-old Nicole Santos Palafox, who disappeared on March 2 and her body was found a week and a half later in a field in Tepojaco, Tizayuca, Hidalgo.
For this case, on March 8, a man identified as M.A.H.P. was arrested, who was linked to the process and placed in detention for the crime of disappearance committed by individuals in an aggravated manner and committed against a minor.
When Nicole’s body was found, “the femicide protocol practiced in all violent deaths of women was applied and through genetic identification tests it was confirmed that the identity of said body corresponds to the minor,” explained Arturo Flores Medina, deputy attorney for Human Rights and Community Services of the State Attorney General’s Office.
The Atlas of Homicides refers that during 2021 a total of 42 women were victims of intentional homicide in the state, of which 4.8% were in an age range between 15 and 19 years, 2.4% were between five and nine years old and another 2.4% were between zero and four years old.
Another case is that of the four-year-old girl Isabel, who after disappearing on July 11 was found dead on the night of July 16 in the wooded area of Cuautepec, in the Gustavo A. Madero mayor’s office.
Through a statement, the capital prosecutor’s office reported that Isabel’s mother, stepfather and grandmother were arrested, against whom an investigation folder was initiated for the crime of femicide.
The atlas data again indicates that last year 126 women were victims of homicide in the CDMX; Of these, 4% had an age range of 15 to 19 years, 1.6% between 10 and 14 years, 0.8% between five and nine years and 2.4% between zero and four years.
As for adolescents, there is a record of the case of Fanny Guadalupe, a 16-year-old Mixe girl who was murdered on September 26 in the ejido of El Porvenir, municipality of San Juan Cotzocón, Oaxaca.
The prosecutor’s office of the entity reported through a statement that an investigation folder was opened for the crime of femicide and indicated that it would conduct interviews with relatives and citizens “until the lines of investigation are exhausted.”
Mixe activist Joaquín Galván reported that Fanny had already reported aggressions and threats by a municipal agent in her town, who threatened, insulted and accused her and her partner of selling drugs.
In 2021, in Oaxaca, it was reported that 79 women were victims of homicide, of which 5.1% were between 15 and 19 years old, 3.8% between 10 and 14 years old, 1.3% between five and nine years old and another 1.3% between zero and four years old.
Guanajuato and Edomex, the most dangerous entities
A final finding of the group of experts who made the atlas has to do with Guanajuato and the State of Mexico, cataloged as the two most dangerous entities for minors.
“We found that in the state a total of 218 children and adolescents lost their lives due to homicide in 2021, placing Guanajuato as the most dangerous state for children under 18 years of age, with 16% of the total victims of that age range registered nationwide,” the report states.
The researchers also discovered that the State of Mexico is the second entity with the most underage victims, with 12% of the national total.
During the presentation of the report, Edgar Baltazar, member of the direction of research and public policies of MUCD, also pointed out that in general “we found that the proportion of female victims who are under five years old is five times higher. than that of children under five … there is a much higher proportion of girls who are killed than boys.”
The report states that, while the age range from zero to four years of age of homicide victims nationwide in 2021 was 0.3% in the case of boys, for girls this figure reached 1.3%.
In absolute numbers, more boys than girls were killed, with a downward trend.
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