6 out of 10 migrant women raped in Mexico

If that headline doesn’t convince you why immigration is a feminist issue, I honestly don’t know what will.
Amnesty International reports that six out of 10 women and girls experience sexual violence as they cross through Mexico hoping to come to the United States. Rape is so common, in fact, that some smugglers allegedly demand women get contraceptive injections before the trip so they do not become pregnant after being assaulted.
The report says that “many women migrants are deterred from reporting sexual violence by the pressures to continue their journey and the lack of access to an effective complaints procedure.”
Amnesty International’s full report, Mexico: Invisible victims. Migrants on the move in Mexico [pdf – English] [pdf -Spanish].
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Related: For those of you who have Yes Means Yes, our very own Miriam’s essay – “When Sexual Autonomy Isn’t Enough: Sexual Violence Against Immigrant Women in the United States” – deals with this issue.
Via UN Dispatch.