Vulnerability Situations to Human Trafficking in Mobile and Local Population in the Municipality of Tapachula in the Context of the 2018-2019 Migrant Caravans

Abstract

The objective of this article is to describe the vulnerability situations to the possibility of becoming human trafficking victims for both the mobile and the resident population in the municipality of Tapachula, Chiapas during October 2018 to July 2019, period in which the first caravans occurred on the border between Tapachula, Chiapas and Tecún Umán, Guatemala. It’s the result of a qualitative approach research that has as analytical axes the category vulnerability and the legal framework to confront human trafficking in Mexico, and it’s based on records of field observations in institutions for the protection of migrants and victims of gender violence and in interviews with key informants in Chiapas and in Mexico City. The main conclusion of this work is that the juncture resulting from the response of the Mexican government to the caravans, the austerity policy implemented by the Mexican government and the problems derived from an institutional design that operates without adherence to the legal framework and with exceeded capacities, derived in situations of unprecedented or intensified vulnerability for the populations mentioned above.