Mexico City.- The Morena group in the Chamber of Deputies will propose reforms to the Federal Criminal Code regarding hate crimes or discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The president of the Youth and Sexual Diversity Commission, Reyna Celeste Ascencio Ortega, presented an initiative that seeks to modify articles 51, 326, 327 and 328 of the Federal Criminal Code and adds a final paragraph to Article 137 of the National Code of Criminal Procedures
At a press conference, he pointed out that the objective is to typify various behaviors committed to the detriment of the people of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transgender and transgender population, particularly acts of discrimination, attack for the exercise of their rights, homicide and injuries , as well as establishing a protocol for action and investigation in case the victims belong to that sector.
He stressed that adjustments to the law are required because Mexico occupies the second place in Latin America in homophobia crimes. In addition, according to the National Survey on Discrimination in Mexico, the main problem that this community suffers is discrimination and lack of acceptance, criticism and teasing.
Ascencio Ortega recalled that people of the community of sexual diversity are often attacked or violent and do not go to the authorities for fear of being revictimized; hence the need for a specialized protocol.
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The legislator of Morena proposed that the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity be incorporated in the reforms to the articles.
Likewise, in the National Code of Criminal Procedures, protection measures are issued to persons who, due to their sexual orientation and gender identity, are victims of crimes, which will be provided in the protocol specialized in this matter, which must be issued by the Attorney General’s Office Republic (FGR) and its counterparts in the states.
Between 2013 and 2018, independent agencies recorded 473 hate crimes in Mexico, of which 261 were committed against trans women and Veracruz appeared as the entity with the highest number of murders, according to an investigation by the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM).
For its part, the collective Ese Letter, states that on average 79 people from the LGBT community (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender) lose their lives violently every year, but only 10 percent are investigated as a hate crime.
He said that the IACHR also admits that trans women are the most vulnerable people in society.
