Violence against women: abduction figures soar in the first two months of 2022

On March 26, Brenda was kidnapped in the eyes of her neighbors in San Luis Potosí: despite cries for help, the criminals managed to threaten her and bring it up against your will into a private vehicle.

This case is listed as the tip of the iceberg of a security crisis for women in Mexico in which, for the first two months of 2022, it showed a considerable rebound after four months of decline in its incidence.

According to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), the abductions of women went from 10 cases in January to 28 in February, which not only represents the highest record in the last two years, but also the most substantial for the same period in the entire administration.

Although from January to February 2021 there was an increase in two cases (from 10 to 12), Mexico had a decrease from 37 to 27 incidents in the same period in 2020; from 46 to 30 in 2019, and 40 to 31 in 2018.

Thus, the Mexican Republic has accumulated 38 abductions of women so far in 2022, of which five have been of minors perpetrated in the states of Veracruz (2), Baja California (2) and Tamaulipas (1), the agency said.

Currently, Veracruz is the entity that concentrates the largest number of women deprived of liberty with six registrations; one reported in January and the remaining five in February 2022. Followed by this is the State of Mexico (Edomex) with five (one in January and four in February), and then Baja California with three (one in January and two in February).

Other entities that also had reports of kidnappings in January - unchanged for February - were Chihuahua (3), Oaxaca (1) and Queretaro (1). For their part, San Luis Potosí and Tabasco had an increase of one case, each accumulating two records in the last report.

Meanwhile, other states that also reported two kidnappings so far this year were Mexico City (CDMX), Hidalgo, Michoacán, Puebla; while Morelos , Nuevo León and Zacatecas were included with only one case.

According to the report of the organization Common Cause, Analysis of Criminal Incidence January-February 2022, in the first two months there was an increase in the crimes of kidnapping and trafficking in persons, among others.

Along the same lines, the latest security report from the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) showed that 112 kidnappings were reported nationwide in that period, 36 more than in the same period in 2021; 10 than in 2020, and one in 2018.

This staggered, the dependency argued, was largely due to “cases such as that of 22 migrants who were deprived of their liberty and released in Veracruz.” Despite this, he highlighted that the current figure is 39.4% lower than the historical high, when 185 accumulated in January 2019.

He also reported that government actions have made it possible to arrest 4,286 people incidents of crime, dismantle 469 gangs and release 1,859 victims from July 2019 to February 2022, according to the National Anti-Kidnapping Coordination (CONASE).

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