For more than a decade, MSF has been providing care to people on the move (PoM) in Mexico and Central America. Since 2021, the complex political and security situation across the region has contributed to an exponential increase in PoM, reaching an unprecedented figure in the first quarter of 2024.

When PoM leave their countries, they suffer discrimination and face immigration policies so restrictive that they force them to take increasingly dangerous routes, where they may face extreme violence. On the route, they are victims of all kinds of violations of their human rights. They are simultaneously subjected to various atrocities such as beatings, kidnappings, extortion, robbery, labor exploitation, family separation and sexual violence.

Latin American women, who increasingly migrate independently or as caregivers, are not only at risk because they migrate under these conditions, but also because of their gender. In this environment, our teams have reported drastic increases in the number of cases of violence, particularly sexual violence, mostly against women.

Patients report being raped and being separated from their families. Some of the people we have treatedincreasingly report that, when they are udocumentedat certain land points, they are forced to undress and their genitals are searched for valuables and money. These cases of invasive touching or searches are frequent, even of children Because many of our patients are determined to continue their migration north, and because this type of violence has become so normalized, some women do not recognize this as sexual assault, despite representing a risk to their physical and emotional health.

For years, MSF teams have been helping migrants and refugees who are dealing with the medical and psycho-social effects of extreme violence and torture. In recent months, they have identified more cases of women and girls who have repeatedly suffered extreme violence such as kidnapping and sexual assault, either on the migration route or in their home countries.

Two women, MSF patients at the Comprehensive Care Centre (CAI, by Spanish acronym) recently held a workshop where, they expressed how they currently feel after having received mental health care. The workshop discussion and the women’s stories are captured in a short documentary, “One and thousands”, illustrated by 13 Mexican artists.