From January 1 to 31 October 2021 committed 2, 037 homicides of people between 0 to 17 years in Mexico, while during the same period of 2020 there were 1, 973 homicides against that age group, reported this Tuesday the Network for the Rights of the Child in Mexico (Redim).
During the presentation of the study on children recruited in Mexico: “Recruitment and use of girls, boys and adolescents by criminal groups. Analysis from public policies and legislation ”, the Network also pointed out that in terms of disappearances, at least 4, 328 people out of 0 a 31 years have been registered as missing from January 1 to December 7, 2021.
Of these , 2, 785 were women (64 .4%) and of which 1, 570 were still missing to date. This is unlike 1, 347 people from 0 to 17 years disappeared in the same months of 2020 that are still missing to date.
Given these figures, Redim demanded that the Mexican State “recognize and classify as a crime the recruitment of children and adolescents in Mexico”, as one of the most serious forms of violence that can be committed against children and adolescents in the country, by directly affecting their human rights.
And he pointed out that this “can and should be prevented” through the commitment of the authorities to apply specific mechanisms of public policy and legislation.
“Girls, boys and adolescents recruited are primarily victims, recognizing this character of victims in recruitment does not exclude criminal responsibility or other forms of accountability, but it does help to promote a logic of restitution of rights in the deviation nculation, physical and psychological recovery and reintegration ”, said Tania Ramírez, director of the Network.
Meanwhile, the representative of the German Embassy in Mexico, Peter Tempel, institution which supported the publication of two investigations carried out by Redim, said that violence and its expression as recruitment is a universal issue that requires a commitment to fight for human rights in general and for children and adolescents.
“It is not our task as a diplomatic mission to give advice to the Government of Mexico, but we are also here to support the Government and civil society that has a very important task in this regard,” said Tempel in the presentation of the study.
For her part , the president of the Redim board of directors, Isabel Crowley, said that “it is necessary to analyze and understand the multiple risk factors that originate recruitment of childhoods in the context of Mexico. ”
Among which are the profound inequalities such as poverty, school dropouts, family and youth violence and, in turn, disappearances that continue to impact children.
“Violence in recruitment is different for girls than for boys, in terms of form and type, but it is also lived from the meaning of being a woman,” said Josefina Pontigo, design coordinator , advice and evaluation of policies, programs and actions of the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) of Mexico.
Meanwhile, Elena Azaola, academic and researcher of the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), estimated that there are 150, 000 children and adolescents who run the risk of being recruited by organized crime.