Mexico: 'Three Children Murdered Every Day,' Says Rights Group

By teleSUR

20 July 18

"The fact that violence against children is assumed as part of the culture, has normalized it," said child rights activist Ricardo Bucio.

very day, three children are murdered in Mexico, the National System for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA) said Thursday.

"There are at least three homicides of children and babies every day, and although it has improved because in 2010 we had four daily homicides, that does not mean that it can be accepted as normal," spokesman Ricardo Bucio Mujica told intersectoral meeting, 'An Agenda of Priorities to End Violence Against Girls, Boys, and Adolescents.'

"Invisible violence" against children minimizes the problem and gives the impression that the country is improving, Mujica said. At least 63 percent of minors have reported cases of assault and harassment by members of their own family or community.

One seven-year-old died in Altamira on Monday after being stabbed 20 times. The next day, in Juarez, Nuevo Leon, the body of an eight-year-old girl was found in a vacant lot.

"The fact that violence against children is assumed as part of the culture has normalized it, ensuring its survival," Mujica said, noting that 76 percent of women have also experienced abusive relationships.

"In our country, children are being mistreated... We are not legislating nor are we putting the necessary resources for protection agencies at the national level," Bucio said.

According to the NGO Save the Children, Mexico invests less than 21 percent of its gross domestic product in child protection and development. A total of 30 committees for child rights are now demanding the state take more decisive action to prevent abuse.