"At the time of the Amnesty International report, the non-profit estimated "as many as six in 10 women and girl migrants experience sexual violence during the journey."[1] It cites a 2006 study of already-detained migrant women in which 23 of 90 reported experiencing violence, with 13 saying the perpetrator was a state official.[1] The researchers involved believed actual numbers were likely higher.[1]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_assault_of_migrants_from_Latin_America_to_the_United_States#Estimates
The original report (which I have not read) is at:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR41/014/2010/en/8459f0ac-03ce-4302-8bd2-3305bdae9cde/amr410142010eng.pdf/
From that report:
Women and girl migrants, especially those without legal
status travelling in remote areas or on trains, are at
heightened risk of sexual violence at the hands of
criminal gangs, people traffickers, other migrants or
corrupt officials. Sexual violence, or the threat of sexual
violence, is often used as a means of terrorizing women
and their relatives. Many criminal gangs appear to use
sexual violence as part of the “price” demanded of
migrants. According to some experts, the prevalence
of rape is such that people smugglers may require
women to have a contraceptive injection prior to the
journey as a precaution against pregnancy resulting
from rape.
It is a widely held view – shared by local and
international NGOs and health professionals working
with migrant women – that as many as six in 10
migrant women and girls are raped.
A study in 2006
interviewed 90 migrant women held in Iztapalapa
Migrants’ Detention Centre, of whom just over half were
from Central America. Twenty-three women reported
experiencing some kind of violence, including sexual
violence. Of these, 13 stated the person responsible
was a state official.
Researchers carrying out the
study believed the figures may significantly understate
the problem because of the reluctance of women to
discuss sexual violence, particularly when they are in
detention.
Many women migrants are deterred from reporting
sexual violence by the pressure to continue their
journey and the lack of access to an effective
complaints procedure. This is compounded by the lack
of avenues to secure effective protection and the
absence of reliable sources of assistance or support for
survivors. Migrants who have been raped have to deal
not only with the stigma associated with sexual
violence, but also with the risk that if they report the
crime they may be deported or that seeking treatment
will deprive them of their one chance of reaching the
USA. As a result, women migrants rarely report sexual
violence and are very unlikely to file criminal
complain
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