According to the statistical record of the Tabasco State Attorney General's Office, specifically in the crime incidence for the month of January 2024, only one case of femicide has been reported in the entire state, and these statistics do not show the number of files initiated for missing women.
Re-victimization or secondary victimization is the one that arises from the fact that the person who has lived a traumatic experience, and upon contacting the authorities or state institutions, is the recipient of unfair treatment and may even be criminalized for the same act of which he/she was the recipient (Martorella, 2011).
In other words, revictimization makes the person relive the traumatic event he/she has lived through and once again assume his/her role as a victim. This time being “NOT ONLY A VICTIM OF A CRIME, BUT OF THE INCOMPREHENSION OF A JUSTICE SYSTEM”.
It is normal to see in the news nowadays the constant disappearance of people, in this case we will talk about women, those who at any time of the day, at night, regardless of their clothing, the place where they have been (school, family home, own home, nightclubs, cinemas, etc.), academic level, age, social status and others, have been victims of a behavior that has attempted against their life, their freedom, their psychosexual freedom, to mention a few.), academic degree, age, social level and others, have been victims of a behavior that has attempted against their life, their freedom, their psychosexual freedom, to mention a few, and that consist of disappearance, kidnapping, human trafficking, femicide, and whatever the criminal type, have been judged by the institutions in charge of investigating, for the simple fact of having gone abroad.
When the relatives of the missing women arrive at the institutions that should provide security, justice, or simply receive compliance with the constitutional norm to which they are entitled, they encounter secondary victimization by the same institution that is in charge of investigating the legal case in order to try to locate their missing girls, adolescents or women. blaming the missing women for their disappearance, This is done by singling out women in some cases for hanging out in nightclubs late at night or early in the morning, for wearing provocative clothes, for leaving the place under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or for the simple fact of being a woman, to mention a few examples, such comments can be found in the published notes of searches for women, and that surely have been read by many Internet browsers in all cases that have been promoted searches for missing women in social networks.
Unfortunately, this type of revictimization is committed by the personnel in charge of justice, such as police, prosecutors, judges, experts, criminologists, public officials, due to poor intervention in their work to provide their services, since they are poorly trained to deal with situations in the search for missing women.
In other words, a number of people in a situation of victimization (victims of a possible crime) will arrive at the doors of the institution, which in all cases will be the Prosecutor's Office, with strong psychological and emotional burdens, demanding attention and containment; therefore, the weight of this will generate that both the institution and its members will develop defensive attitudes against the Complaint made by the victim's relatives, either actively (aggressive attitudes and behavior) or passively (omission of functions, loss of files or documents, etc.), as they do not have the structure or the adequate means to process and channel it, since they do not have the structure or the means to do so.) by not having the structure or adequate means for the processing and channeling of this.
This revictimization generates a loss of trust in the institutions and a loss of time, which is very important in cases of disappearance of women, the appearance of new feelings that affect emotional stability (anguish, anxiety, depression) leading the person to feel helpless in the face of crimes.
The importance of NON REVICTIMIZATION is that the person who comes to the institution for help can feel that he/she has some control over the situation that is happening and that he/she will be able to overcome what he/she is going through in this distressing moment.
It is very important not to lose sight of the fact that the police and officials dedicated to the administration of justice have the most important role in avoiding the revictimization of people who come to them for help. In other words, it is not enough to train them, but to demonstrate that public servants are putting this training into practice, and the users should be the only ones who can evaluate or confirm the empathetic treatment towards them.
It is also important to mention that the media (television, radio, currently the internet and social networks) play a central role in revictimization. Newspaper headlines, or notes in social networks seek to draw attention, and blame the victims and also change the narrative of the facts, favoring re-victimization behaviors. Here the State has, once again, the obligation to create legislation and policies that strengthen, encourage and provide security to the media to develop appropriate dissemination guidelines that contribute to eradicate violence against the victim and her family members.
The State is obliged to guarantee due diligence in criminal justice processes, and that, during any process of imparting justice with public servants, they seek not to revictimize the victim. This can be achieved through the provision of programs and training that educate them on the subject and constant evaluation by the users of the system.
Don't be fooled, it wasn't your fault!
