TRIP TO MEXICAN PARADISE TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE

Canadian Woman Beaten and Raped in her Tulum Hotel Room and Feminicides Have Increased 17% in Michoacán

By Yaqui from MND y Debate

Borderland Beat
November 21, 2019

Mexico City man arrested after Canadian woman beaten in her Tulum hotel. Leslie York underwent nine hours of reconstructive surgery in Cancún.

A Canadian woman’s trip to paradise turned into a nightmare when she was attacked in her hotel room last week in Tulum. Leslie York of Ottawa, Ontario, was beaten so badly while staying at Tulum’s Grand Bahia Principe resort that she required over nine hours of reconstructive surgery.

Leslie York, 29, arrived alone on November 10, planning to meet her mother there the next day.

Around midnight, York left her room to get something to eat. She met two couples also staying at the resort and remained with them in the restaurant until around 3:00am.

After she returned to her room, she heard a knock on her door. It was one of the men she had met at dinner, who authorities have since identified as Ricardo S.P., a 34-year-old chauffeur from Mexico City who was staying at the hotel with his wife.

e managed to feel her way out of the room to seek help. York was first taken to a private hospital in Playa del Carmen and later transferred to a hospital in Cancún. Local media reported she had been sexually assaulted as well as beaten.

Her mother arrived on November 11, and her brother Matthew York joined them the next day.

“She had nine hours of plastic surgery. She has nerve damage in her face. The swelling is kind of going down now, but at the time it was quite bad,” she told CBC News.

Leslie York remained in Cancún as of Monday, recovering from her injuries and it was not clear when she would be well enough to travel. “Every time she lifts her head up she gets dizzy,” her brother said.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said the family is being provided consular services and that Canadian officials are working with Mexican authorities to resolve the case.

The Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office said Ricardo S.P. had been arrested connection with the attack.

Meanwhile, in the West Coast state of Michoacán there is an increase in feminicide which will inevitably reflect this years statistics countrywide.

Of the 113 municipalities of Michoacán in 14 of them there is a Gender Alert and the murders against women continue to grow, says Deputy Zenaida Salvador.

The stats for feminicides have increased 17% in the last two years in the state of Michoacán , deputy Zenaida Salvador Brígido claimed today before the Michoacán State Congress .

It should be emphasized that since 2014 the Gender Alert was issued in 14 of the 113 municipalities of the entity to work in the fight against violence against women, but this has not helped, on the contrary "homicides are increasing towards women with excessive cruelty and violence in different modalities. In the same way it seems to be related to the involvement of Mexican women in the struggle for their rights, " lamented the deputy of the Morena party.

According to information provided by Salvador Brígido in the Chamber of Deputies, the Attorney General's Office of Michoacán (FGM) registered 138 murdered women in 2016, by 2017 the figure rose to 139; In 2018, the increase was greater until reaching 162 feminicides, which is equivalent to an increase of 17% in this period.

The deputy announced on the subject of feminicides , ie , murders of women, that this year alone year from January to June already 53 women were deprived of life who were added to the list. Feminicides have increased 17% , Salvador Brígido claimed today before the Michoacán State Congress.

He emphasized that since 2014 the Gender Alert was issued in 14 of the 113 municipalities of the entity to work in the fight against violence against women, but this has not helped, on the contrary "homicides are increasing towards women with excessive cruelty and violence in different modalities. In the same way it seems to be related to the involvement of Mexican women in the struggle for their rights, " lamented the deputy of the Morena bench.

According to information provided by Salvador Brígido in the Chamber of Deputies, the Attorney General's Office of Michoacán (FGM) registered 138 murdered women in 2016, by 2017 the figure rose to 139; In 2018, the increase has reached 162 feminicides, which is equivalent to an increase of 17% in this period.

"Feminicide is not an exclusive issue for women, it is a social problem where men should be included and their way of relating to women, feminicide is a complex problem, all as a population we must be aware of what this implies", Zenaida Salvador Brígido explained.

Given these figures, the legislator exalts that there is a legal vacuum in political and activist fields in relation to women, so she asked to add adequate protection through her initiative.

"Given this wave of violence that has been unleashed in recent years, it is necessary that the State pay attention to legislation on this matter, which guarantees security, integrity, equity, equality, protection, justice and respect for human rights to women, " concluded Deputy Zenaida. She hopes that this figure does not increase considerably before the end of the year, although they have already reported the murder of other women, even with their children.