Only 13% of women who have been physically or mentally abused by their partner in Mexico report it to the authorities, a survey by the Mexican Statistical Office shows, released Thursday ahead of Friday’s Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
Today, activists from around the world are expected to take part in demonstrations calling for stronger action to combat gender-based violence.
In Mexico, where some 20 women are killed every day, the prosecutor’s office in the state of Morelos has attracted attention this month for trying to cover up the murder of a 27-year-old woman. Initially, the prosecution stated that Ariadne Fernanda Lopez died as a result of “alcohol poisoning”.
The INEGI study found that the likelihood of a woman reporting to the authorities that she has been physically or mentally abused is extremely low in a wide range of cases.
If the perpetrator is the partner of the victim, only 13.1% report this. In cases of physical or sexual violence at school, it drops to 7.8%, in the case of domestic violence to 7.1%, in the workplace to 6.5% and in society as a whole to 4.3%.
One in two women in the survey sample said they had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, one in five in the last year.
More than a third reported having experienced physical violence, one in ten in the last year.
The most common reason attacks go unreported is because the victim didn’t think it was that serious. Some women also said that they did not know how to do it, that they were afraid of the consequences, that they would be blamed, that they would not be believed, or that they would be ashamed.
When they report an incident, they are more likely to contact a social worker or prosecutor rather than the police. When this happens in the workplace, they most often report it to the union representative or management. If it is an incident at school, it is more often reported to him.
A survey of a sample of girls and women aged 15 and over recorded the highest rates of violent assault among women in their 20s and 30s.
Source: RES-IPE
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