MEXICO CITY – The Amnesty International has released a new report about human rights in Mexico, revealing that over 14,000 women in the Latin American country are raped every year.
The human rights organization regrettably noted that this figure could represent only 20 percent of actual cases, given that 80 percent of cases are not reported.
Despite the thousands of rape cases reported annually, very few are addressed by Mexico’s legal system. In 2009, for example, there were only 2,795 convictions for rape, representing a fraction of total cases.
“Justice is crucial when it comes to addressing and ending violence against women,” Amnesty International said in the statement.
“If the person who violates a woman receives no punishment, the message that is being transmitted is that such abuses are acceptable. It is a firm invitation to others to commit that same crime.”
The organization also reported that the highest number of rapes occurred in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, and the State of Mexico.
Mexico’s legislators in March rejected a proposal that would have implemented an emergency alert over increased gender violence in the State of Mexico. The proposal followed a damning report issued by the attorney general that found a rise in the number of women killed in the city over the two past years.
Feminist groups have repeatedly criticized President Enrique Peña Nieto for failing to address the problem of gender violence in the country. In Mexico, as in much of the region, victims of femicide are often made invisible in a broader context of drug war violence and widespread corruption.
In Mexico, the largest number of victims of femicide comes from the State of Mexico, where Peña Nieto previously served as governor.
