According to a study, between one and three crimes of abuse against children occur everyday in the State of Yucatán.
“Between one and three crimes of sexual abuse against children take place in Yucatán on a daily basis, of which, just a small percentage are made public and a much smaller number is investigated”, said Reyna Faridé Peña Castillo, representative of the University Unit of Clinic and Victim Research (Univict) of the School of Psychology of the UADY.
He specified that children between five and 10 years of age are at greater risk and in 80 percent of the cases, the aggressions are suffered by girls by adult men close to their family circle.
“With national bases and information from the state observatory, we can say that here in the region we have on average, between one and three sex crimes against children per day, it is difficult to give more precise figures, but in the statistical analysis we have that it is a generalized situation that occurs both in the state capital and in rural areas,” Peña Castillo said.
The specialist explained that regarding sexual crimes the state is in “red light” because there is a high incidence of these type of crimes, and authorities in coordination with the civil society, must design strategies of prevention and attention to victims of these aggressions.
“It is necessary and urgent to pay attention to children, because if they do not have professional help on a timely manner, they can fall into serious depression and attempt against their own lives, that is why these programs for the prevention of abuse against children are so important”, the specialist added.
“The state government has launched programs such as ‘De boca en boca’ (Word of mouth) or ‘A mi cuerpo nadie lo toca’ (No one touches my body), in order to create awareness and make the victims denounce the sexual abuses. These programs are implemented through trained personnel that visit the rural communities and marginalized zones of the state capital, ” she continued.
Peña Castillo stated that the strategy is to attack the main problem faced by children that is misinformation and support them to develop the necessary skills so they can detect when they are at risk.
“The children must understand that there are things that can not be silenced, even if an adult asks them to keep the secret,” concluded the specialist from the School of Psychology of the UADY.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
