Jocotepec municipality  has a population of 47,534 of which 24,129 are women, according to information from the Institute of Statistical and Geographic Information of Jalisco (IIEG), Jocotepec reports 870 attacks against women  throughout the municipality so far,  equivalent to 72.5 women attacked per month or  2.4 women per day. Photo Caption:The photograph is for illustrative purposes only.Photo:Héctor Ruiz Mejía.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía: According to data obtained by Laguna through a transparency request, 2.4 women are attacked  everyday somewhere in the municipality of Jocotepec. San Juan Cosalá  is Jocotepec’s most dangerous town for women for the third straight year.

San Juan Cosalá continues to be the most violent town despite a slight drop in reported attacks on women from their high point in 2019 .  In that year authorities registered 224 attacks , which represented 18.6 women raped per month. The year 2020  saw a drop to 210 attacks (17.5 women per month) . In 2021 there have been a total of 126 reported cases (10.6 women per month) to date, but Cassandra Reyes, director of the Directorate of Substantive Equality,  warns that December, traditionally the month with the highest incidence of violence, is still ahead.

«Something strange happens  after Christmas and days of partying and alcohol before the New Year, the numbers of women victims of violence shoot up,» she  said.

The numbers from the towns at the west end of Lake Chapala (known as the headwaters) are not encouraging either. Since 2020 attacks on women have  increased almost double  over 2019 as  the municipal headwaters area recorded 109  cases in 2019 (9.08 women per month),  204 cases in 2020 (17 cases per month) and so far this year, 115 cases of violence have been reported (9.5 per month), with an anticipated increase  in December.

However, last year saw the highest number of attacks, with  972 cases at the municipal level, which represented 81 women assaulted per month, largely influenced by the confinement caused by the pandemic, explained Casandra Reyes.

«The confinement represented a challenge for the women who were raped, as this made them live full time with their attacker who, being unemployed, increased their alcohol consumption», explained Cassandra.