Mexico adds post to fight violence, exploitation

Associated Press

Article Launched: 02/02/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

Mexico has created a new federal position to prosecute violence and exploitation against women and children, the government announced Thursday.

The position comes as human- rights groups urge the federal government to do more to investigate the killings of women, especially along the northern border.

The new position will replace a similar post created in 2006 and will add child sex and labor exploitation to its caseload.

The new prosecutor, Guada lupe Morfin -- who previously worked in a similar post aimed at combating violence against women in the border city of Juárez -- will report to Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora.

Since 1993, an estimated 423 women have been killed in Juárez, across the U.S. border from El Paso -- at least 89 between 2004 and 2008, the National Human Rights Commission reported Tuesday.