Figures of the crime of human trafficking in Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has the Extraordinary Chair “Human Trafficking”, in which it has been pointed out that the analysis of human trafficking is a difficult and complex task, this because there is no consensus on the real magnitude of the problem at the national or international level, because diverse methodologies have been used for its measurement, in addition to the difficulties that its nature implies for quantification.
Although according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) released in September 2021, they indicated that (in 2020) 21.2 million people aged 18 and over were traffickedwhich represented a crime prevalence rate of 23,520 victims per 100,000 inhabitants.
That same year, the Inegi reported that 28.4% of households in the country had at least one member who was a victim of this crime; in 93.3% of the cases there was no complaint, or else, the authority did not initiate an investigation folder, that is, “what is called a black figure”.
Meanwhile, in the “Diagnosis on the situation of human trafficking in Mexico 2021. Prosecution and administration of justice”, the National Human Rights Commission highlighted that in 2020 the highest number of victims was identified, with 1,072 in total.
The latest figures that turn on the red lights on this crime were revealed this July 28, 2022 by the organization Cause in Common.
According to the analysis that this organization carried out on the figures of crimes and victims registered in investigation folders, which are reported by the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP), in the first semester of 2022, 494 victims of trafficking were reported, which implies an increase of 24% compared to the same period of 2021.
According to that report, in 2019, 679 victims of human trafficking were registered; in 2020, 676 victims and by 2021, 744 victims.
The most affected states
According to the Common Cause report, the highest increase in registered victims occurred in Michoacán (467%); Queretaro (300%); Chihuahua (227%); Hidalgo (200%) and Mexico City (112%), while there was a decrease in Jalisco (-92%); Tabasco (-80%); Veracruz (-67%); Nuevo Leon (-56%) and Puebla (-31%).
In this 2022, the municipalities with the highest number of registered cases of human trafficking were the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, with 37 victims, and Tijuana, with 34.
