More than 553 thousand adolescents, victims of physical violence in one year, reveals survey

Laura Poy Solano

Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 22, 2022, p. 13

In Mexico, more than 553 thousand adolescents reported having experienced an event of violence in the recent year, which represents 2.5 percent of the population aged 12 to 19 in the country.

It is estimated that 1.4 percent of women and 3.6 percent of men in this age range have faced direct aggression.

The National Survey of Health and Nutrition (Ensanut) 2021 warns that the most affected group is 16 to 19 years old, since 357 thousand 200 adolescents manifested at least one violent attack in the 12 months prior to the application of the survey.

It was found that, as age increases, the proportion of people who were the object of hostility rises.

According to the results of the Ensanut 2021 survey, more than 60,000 children between the ages of 10 and 12 suffered direct violence, while in the population between the ages of 13 and 15, 136,000 declared they had been victims at least once.

The main reasons that generate crimes or administrative offenses of aggression against the adolescent population in Mexico are fights with strangers (33.3 percent of cases), but robbery or assault and fights with acquaintances represent 47 percent of incidents against individuals. from 12 to 19 years of age.

From kicks to strangulation

By type of violence, 54.1 percent suffered blows, kicks and punches; 19 percent verbal aggression; 6.8 percent were injured with sharp objects, and at least 4.7 percent faced acts of violence involving firearms, while eight out of 10 respondents said they had endured various types of abuse, according to the opinion study.

It is estimated that 21.3 percent of adolescents under direct attack have suffered damage to their health as a result.

The spaces of greatest insecurity for the population between 12 and 19 years of age are public roads, with six out of 10 cases; it is followed by the home, with 15.8 percent of the incidents of violence; 5.5 percent took place at school and 4.5 percent on public transportation.

By gender, although women have a lower rate of violent attacks, they are the ones who face assaults with substances, suffocation, strangulation, drowning and poisoning, which are not reported in male adolescents. It is estimated that five out of 10 women aged 12 to 19 who have reported at least one violent attack have been beaten, kicked and punched.

The Ensanut survey is an official tool to evaluate and create improvement policies in the fields of health and nutrition.