Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/65074

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/ebr.7.1.55

The phenomena of migration and trafficking in persons are inextricably linked in Mexico. Restrictive border policies and inadequate anti-trafficking legislation increase the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation and trafficking. Migrant women constitute a highly vulnerable group facing increasing risks of not only trafficking, but of re-victimization. The Southern Border Plan (Plan Frontera Sur), implemented by the Government of Mexico in July 2014, has increased the vulnerability to trafficking of migrants, and in particular of women. The Plan has resulted in a sharp increase in deportations from Mexico. Migrants and smugglers have been pushed to find new and more dangerous routes to evade the new checkpoints and increased militarization along Mexico’s southern border. This paper explores the effects that Mexico’s anti-trafficking legislation and the Southern Border Plan has had on the vulnerability of women to trafficking and re-victimization, particularly in the realm of forced sexual servitude. The last sentence of the paragraph should be instead like this: The research is based on 47 interviews conducted along Mexico’s southern border and in Cancún, Quintana Roo.