The migration phenomenon in Chiapas has intensified its complexity in recent years, becoming a problem marked by human rights violations, violence, labor and sexual exploitation. Since the arrival of migrant caravans in 2018 to the mass transfers in 2021, the municipalities of Chiapas, especially Tuxtla Gutiérrez, have become scenarios of extreme vulnerability for thousands of people in transit.
The capital of Chiapas has become a market for sexual exploitation, especially of Central and South American women and girls, where their irregular immigration status and the cultural conditions of gender violence in the state have favored the emergence of trafficking and prostitution networks.
Interviews with victims reveal that pimps use deception to trap them, offering them fictitious jobs. However, the reality is devastating and many are practically kidnapped and sexually exploited.
In addition to physical exploitation, economic abuse is documented. In Tuxtla Gutiérrez, women must pay daily fees of up to 2,500 pesos to their pimps. One of them commented in an exclusive interview with El Heraldo de Chiapas that other women in other towns, such as Suchiate, pay even higher fees, being forced to give up to 40% of their income to their captors.
On October 12, 2018, Tapachula received between 6,000 and 7,000 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, and other regions. These caravans gave rise to new dynamics of displacement, but also to the exposure of sexual work regardless of age or sexual orientation.
In 2021, the transfer of migrants to different Mexican states and cities such as Tuxtla Gutiérrez began, where the lack of infrastructure and capacity in shelters left many living in plazas, streets, and outside institutions; which forced migrants to accept jobs in conditions of labor and sexual exploitation. In addition, since November 18, 2016, municipalities such as Tapachula, Comitán, Chiapa de Corzo, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Tonalá, Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Villaflores have been classified as Gender Violence Alerts.
Desperation and lack of opportunities push hundreds of migrant women, mainly from Venezuela, Cuba and Central American countries, into extreme situations such as prostitution to survive. In a context of poverty and vulnerability, their stories reveal a humanitarian drama that worsens day by day.
Hunger and need, the story that repeats itself
“Need drove me crazy,” confesses Leonela, a 32-year-old Venezuelan woman who came to Mexico fleeing the crisis in her country. Like her, hundreds of migrant women face situations of extreme vulnerability, being forced to resort to prostitution to survive and support their families.
Leonela has two children, one six years old and the other nine years old. Her story, marked by pain and desperation, reveals the harshness of the conditions faced by many migrant women in Mexican territory.
“I arrived here with nothing, no clothes, no food, and a man offered me work. I didn’t know what it was about, but when I discovered it was prostitution, I had no choice. I do it for my children,” she says in a broken voice.
Leonela shares a room with other migrant women, most of whom are also foreigners. “There are more than 15 of us, we rent several shared rooms. There are many differences between us, but most of us are here because we have no other way out,” she explains.
Daily life is marked by danger. One of the most terrifying experiences she has had was when a client threatened her with a gun. “He put the gun to my head and forced me. He threatened to kill me and was practically going to kidnap me. I agreed because I had no other option,” she confesses through tears.
Leonela describes the hostile environment in which she works. “There are perverse types who ask for things that one doesn’t want to do, but I do it for money. I don’t wish that on anyone. If someone wants to study or work in something decent, let them do it. Prostitution is not easy, there are many things to endure,” she warns.
Despite the difficulties, Leonela remains hopeful. “My dream is to reach the United States, study and give my children a better life. God is great, and I hope to return to Venezuela if the situation improves,” she says with determination.
For now, Leonela and other migrant women survive by working in hotels or in rooms they rent to serve their clients. “They take us to hotels where they pay more, but we also have our rooms to work in,” she explains.
Between the shadows, rejection and despair
In the shadows of the night and under the constant threat of insecurity, a 26-year-old transgender woman shares her story, marked by discrimination, danger and the daily struggle to survive.
Since she was 15, she has faced a hostile environment that led her to prostitution as the only alternative in the face of a lack of job opportunities and social rejection.
“Since I was 15, I started doing this. They don’t give us work because of who we are. We are very discriminated against. We have to face it day by day, with bad, abusive clients. “That is what we have to do,” she says in a firm voice, but with palpable sadness.
Night work on the streets is fraught with risk. She has experienced extreme situations that still torment her. “Once I got in with two people who offered to pay me well. They did whatever they wanted with me. Then they pulled me out of the car pointing a gun at me. Another time, they left me without clothes on a street I didn’t even know,” she recalls.
Despite this, she has no other options. Insecurity is a constant, but the need for income forces her to go out every night. “You never know if you will return home. I leave at 10 or 11 at night and sometimes I finish at 2 or 3 in the morning. Always in taxis, paying whatever is necessary,” she explains.
From an early age, she faced rejection from her family and a lack of resources to study. “From the age of 13, they told me that I had to be a man, but I wanted to be a doctor or a teacher. I didn’t like anything else, but the lack of money and rejection pushed me into this,” she says.
The absence of health and surveillance programs has worsened the situation for sex workers. “There used to be clinics where they treated us, but that doesn’t exist anymore. We haven’t seen anything like that for more than five years. Now we have to buy our own protection,” she says.
She also regrets the lack of intervention by the authorities. “There is no surveillance, there is no support. I wish it were different, but nobody pays attention,” she says resignedly.
Despite the dangers, she continues working because she sees no other way out. “Sometimes I charge $1,800 or $2,300 when there are good clients, but other times it’s barely $200 or $300. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get out of this,” she confesses.
Although she has tried to leave work in the past, the relationships that sought to offer her stability ended up breaking up. “I had a good partner, I stopped working, but when everything ended, I had to go back. Now I prefer to go on alone,” she says.
17 women rescued from their pimps in Comitán
A recent operation in the municipality of Comitán de Domínguez allowed the rescue of at least 17 women of different nationalities who were forced to work as prostitutes in bars in this city.
The situation shows the problems that exist in Chiapas. Several people were arrested after the operation, on charges of corruption of minors, crimes against health and resistance to authority, for which they were placed at the disposal of the Public Ministry, where their legal situation will be determined.
In the new government of Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar, operations have been carried out to pacify the state, in this context they seek not only to dismantle human trafficking networks, but also to guarantee the protection of the victims, many of whom are forced to work in inhumane conditions.
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According to Jesús Alejandro Hernández Aguirre, a doctor from the Health Sector in Chiapas, every weekend they see women dedicated to sex work, this through an invitation made in the businesses where they work.
Of the frequent illnesses that he has found among the women have been candida or trichomonas; and so far none have presented any other serious sexual disease such as HIV, syphilis or gonorrhea.
“The majority of the girls are Central American and come with the purpose of being able to have a source of income to send to their families who stayed in the Central American countries, but we know that many take refuge in alcohol to endure the situation,” commented the doctor.
In his experience 10 years ago he had to see one of the girls on a Friday, the days that they regularly came for a check-up and she did not come, so the following Friday he saw her beaten.
Transgender migrant in Tuxtla – Thiaré García / El Heraldo de Chiapas
“One night before she had been ‘busy’ as they say with a client, and when he saw that she had money next to the bed, after having sex he beat her until she was unconscious (…) He stole the money that she had kept there in her room and even stole the chains that she had,” said Hernández Aguirre.
According to her experience and testimonies that she has collected, she says that there are women who earn money according to the place and depending on the work they do. Some are waitresses, others are known as “ficheras” and others are dedicated one hundred percent to sexual work.
In one of the most sought-after nightclubs in Suchiate, on a bad weekend night, they can earn up to 6 thousand pesos, while in high season they earn 8 thousand or 10 thousand pesos, which makes it impossible for them to leave this job.
The reality in Chiapas regarding this issue has been growing along with the migration phenomenon and is the current cockfighting rings on the Southern Border, where women are captured for human trafficking. Stories like Leonela’s reflect the lack of attention to a humanitarian crisis that goes beyond borders.
Prostitution among migrant women is not only an issue of economic exploitation, but also of vulnerability, insecurity and violation of human rights and individual guarantees.
Source: oem
