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Indigenous and Latina Women & Children's Human
Rights News from the Americas |
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Latina Women & Children at Risk |
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About the Sexual Exploitation of
Indigenous
Women and Children
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Last Updated Oct. 08, 2011 |
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A Focus on the Crisis of Sexual Exploitation with
Impunity Facing the Indigenous Women and Girls of
the Americas
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This section of
LibertadLatina.org
contains information regarding the human rights
crisis facing indigenous women and children in the
Latin American regions of the Americas.
Constituting a
literal war against indigenous women and
especially underage girl children, the sexual and
labor slavery that our people endure today represents an
unprescedented violation of basic human rights
that the world has until now refused to respond
to.
This mass
gender atrocity is simply a continuation of the
region's 500 years of tolerance for the
enslavement of native peoples.
Today, the
multi-billion dollar pockets of the region's drug
cartels, the indifference of law enforcement and
the restrictions placed on sex trafficking around
the globe have casued these cartels, Russian mob,
the Japanese Yakuza and other sexual slavery
networks to openly target underage and yound adult
indigenous women for mass kidnapping, rape,
torture and sale into the global prostitution
market.
This is an intolerable
condition that the region's governments have
to-date failed to address. It is up to the world
community to stand-up and come to the defense of
the tens of thousands of indigenous and mestiza
women and girls who are enslaved annually because racism
and sexism (machismo) within the larger society
tolerates these atrocities.
We say:
end impunity
now!
Chuck Goolsby,
Oct.
02, 2011
- LibertadLatina
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Added Oct. 08, 2011 |
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Mexico |
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About sex
trafficker's war against indigenous
children in Mexico
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Indigenous girls in Mexico
are constantly under threat
from local and global sex
traffickers and sex
tourists
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En
México, 45% de las víctimas de trata
son niñas indígenas: legisladores
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México, DF. En México “45 por
ciento” de las víctimas de la trata
son niñas indígenas dieron a
conocer, Rosi Orozco, presidenta de
la Comisión Especial para la Lucha
contra la Trata de Personas y Xavier
Abreu Sierra, director general de la
Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo
de los Pueblos Indígenas (CDI),
quienes expresaron la urgencia de
contar con una ley general que
combata este crimen que arrebata la
infancia a más de 20 mil niños
mexicanos.
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La diputada federal señaló que
aunque en 2007 se promulgó la Ley
para Prevenir y Sancionar la Trata
de Personas, existen importantes
vacíos que llenar, sobre todo que en
las indagatorias no se “revictimice”
a las niñas que han sufrido esta
situación y se sancione de manera
ejemplar también a los clientes.
Recordó que el 13 de julio, Felipe
Calderón promulgó un decreto que
reforma el artículo 73, lo que
faculta al Congreso a expedir una
Ley General en la materia.
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La legisladora llamó a crear
conciencia y advertir a las familias
de estos pueblos originarios a no
dejarse engañar por los tratantes,
pues las formas para enganchar a las
menores no sólo son múltiples, sino
que muy efectivas”.
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Officials: Some
45% of
trafficking
victims in Mexico
are
indigenous girls
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Mexico City -
In Mexico, "45
percent" of the victims
of trafficking are
indigenous girls,
declared federal congressional
deputy Rosi Orozco,
president of the
Special Commission
for Combating
Trafficking
in Persons and
Xavier
Abreu
Sierra,
director general
of the National
Commission
for Development
Indigenous
Peoples
(CDI). They
expressed an
urgent need for
the passage of a
comprehensive law
to combat
human trafficking,
a crime
that robs [the freedom of]
more than
20,000
Mexican children.
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Deputy Orozco
noted that despite
the fact that the
[ineffective] Law
to Prevent and
Punish Trafficking
in Persons was
passed in 2007,
there are
important
gaps ]in criminal law] that must be
filled, especially
in regard to
structuring investigations
so that they do
not "re-victimize"
girls
who have
experienced being trafficked. Johns
should also be punished, she added.
Orozco recalled that on July 13th
of 2011 President Felipe
Calderón
issued
a decree amending
Article 73 of the
constitution, which
empowers Congress
to issue
a general law
addressing human
trafficking.
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Orozco
called for
creating
awareness about trafficking
and warning
families not to be
fooled by
the traffickers, because
techniques used by traffickers to
entrap children are not only many in
number, but they are also very
effective."
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Carolina Gómez Mena
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La Jornada
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Oct, 08, 2011
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Added: Sep.27, 2011
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Mexico
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Indigenous girls in Mexico
live under constant threat
from local and international
sex traffickers
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Delito
de trata es recurrente en la Zona
Montaña de Guerrero
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Guerrero
state - México ocupa la segunda
posición a nivel mundial en el
delito de trata de personas, tan
sólo superado por Tailandia.
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Falta de
papeles agudiza el problema
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Activistas reportan explotación
sexual y laboral en comunidades
indígenas que padecen marginación y
pobreza extrema
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Acapulco, Guerrero state -
En
la Montaña de Guerrero, la
marginación y pobreza extrema orilla
a algunos indígenas nahuatlecos,
mixtecos, amuzgos y tlapanecos a
vender a sus hijos menores de edad;
otros son robados y los padres no
pueden reclamarlos “por falta de
papeles”, además de que muchos
“desaparecen” en la búsqueda de
mejores condiciones de vida.
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No existe un registro oficial ni de
ninguna otra clase, pero por las
escasas denuncias ante organismos no
gubernamentales como Tlachinollan
—reconocido mundialmente por su
férrea defensa de los derechos
humanos—, se sabe que muchos de esos
niños desaparecidos terminan
reclutados para la pizca de jitomate
en Sinaloa, como víctimas de las
redes de prostitución infantil o
como esclavos domésticos.
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Neil Arias, vocera de Tlachinollan,
dijo que, por usos y costumbres,
cuando las hijas cumplen 12 años,
sus padres las entregan en
matrimonio a cambio de una “dote”
que se traduce en dinero en
efectivo.
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La organización tiene registrados
siete casos de desaparición de
menores en 2010 luego de que sus
padres los enviaron a las ciudades
de Tlapa, Chilpancingo y Acapulco en
busca de trabajo, pero como son
“cazados” por los tratantes,
desaparecen.
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Sin embargo, la Procuraduría de
Justicia del Estado tiene
confirmadas 15 denuncias por la
desaparición de niños indígenas que
habían sido secuestrados fuera de
sus escuelas.
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No obstante, “los casos que son
denunciados ante la Procuraduría no
son investigados, sólo los
archivan”, dijo Neil Arias, miembro
del área jurídica de la
organización.
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Basándose en publicaciones locales,
la abogada aseguró que sólo en Tlapa
de Comonfort se dan al mes de dos a
tres casos de niños o niñas
indígenas desaparecidos. Otros casos
se han registrado en Metlatónoc,
Cochoapan El Grande, Atixtlac y
Acatepec.
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Entre los casos documentados por
Tlachinollan está el de Claudia, una
joven de 19 años de edad que tiene
tres meses de haber desaparecido en
la comunidad de Yoxondacua del
Carmen, de Cochoapan El Grande, uno
de los municipios más pobres del
país.
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La joven viajó al municipio de Tlapa
de Comonfort para buscar trabajo y
fue empleada por una comerciante
ambulante de frutas. Hasta ahí sus
huellas; nadie ha sabido más de
ella.
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Además, como sucede en muchos casos
de desaparición, la familia no tiene
ningún documento de la existencia de
Claudia, ni acta de nacimiento ni
fotografías, lo que dificulta la
intervención de las autoridades.
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“Es un trauma para las familias.
Aquí, en la Montaña, carecemos de
documentos y hay muchos niños y
adultos que no tienen registro
oficial. Muchos casos no son
denunciados porque para poder
denunciar a una persona extraviada
es necesario presentar documentos de
su existencia”.
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De acuerdo con la Coordinación
Técnica del Sistema Estatal del
Registro Civil, en Guerrero hay 300
mil personas que no tienen acta de
nacimiento ni otro documento para
identificarse. De esa cantidad, 60%
son niños y 40% adultos.
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Dotes y ventas
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Tlachinollan documentó denuncias en
la región de la Montaña de padres
que se llevan a sus hijos a trabajar
como jornaleros en otros estados
para luego regresar sin ellos y
asegurar que desaparecieron. Otras
denuncias fueron por la entrega de
las hijas de entre 12 y 15 años de
edad a cambio de dinero, según la
práctica de usos y costumbres.
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En algunos casos, las jóvenes son
llevadas a las familias de sus
novios a cambio de una “dote” de 100
mil pesos, lo que la organización no
gubernamental calificó de “un
comercio” que propicia la violencia
familiar debido a que los novios
consideran a las mujeres un objeto
de su propiedad.
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La venta de niñas se mantiene en
municipios como Cochoapan El Grande
y Metlatónoc, así como en Atixtlac y
Acatepec, considerados entre los más
pobres del país.
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En ellos, las familias mantienen a
las hijas como una mercancía.
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En 2008, en el municipio de
Atixtlac, tres niñas de 14, 15 y 16
años de edad fueron vendidas por
cantidades de entre 30 y 50 mil
pesos por un hombre que actualmente
es procesado por el delito de trata
de personas.
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El hombre se hizo pasar por su padre
para venderlas luego de atraerlas
ofreciéndoles trabajos de cinco mil
pesos mensuales. Después las obligó
a realizar trabajos domésticos sin
salario y en calidad de esclavas.
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The crime of human trafficking is
commonplace in the mountain region
of Guerrero state
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Mexico
ranks second worldwide in the crime
of human trafficking, surpassed only
by Thailand.
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The lack of paperwork documenting
the existence of indigenous children
exacerbates the problem
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Activists report the existence of
sexual and labor exploitation in
indigenous communities suffering
from extreme poverty and
marginalization
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Acapulco, Guerrero state - In the
mountains of Guerrero,
marginalization and extreme poverty
of some indigenous causes some
Nahuatleco, Mixtec, Amuzgo and
Tlapaneco families to sell their
underage children. Others are
kidnapped, and their parents cannot
supply the police with documentation
[or even photos] of their child,
because they don’t have any.
Children and youth also disappear as
they migrate in search of better
opportunities in life.
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The Tlachinollan Center is known
globally for its fierce defense of
human rights. Although no official
registries of the plight of
trafficked indigenous children exist
in Mexico, the Center and other
nongovernmental organizations have
documented the few formal complaints
of missing children that indigenous
parents have been willing to make.
From that work it is known that many
of these missing children are taken
to work in the tomato fields of
Sinaloa state, are forced into child
prostitution networks or are
enslaved in domestic servitude.
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Tlachinollan Center spokesman Neil
Arias says that by custom, when a
family’s daughter reaches age 12,
the parents give her away in
marriage in exchange for a "dowry"
which translates into cash.
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During 2010 the organization
registered seven cases of missing
children after their parents had
sent them to the cities of Tlapa,
Chilpancingo and Acapulco in search
of work. They had been "hunted" by
traffickers and disappeared.
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The Guerrero Attorney General’s
Office has also confirmed 15 cases
involving indigenous children who
were abducted outside of their
schools.
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However, "cases that are reported to
the Attorney General are not
investigated, they are only
archived," said Arias, who is a
member of the Tlachinollan Center’s
legal team.
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Based on news reports found in local
publications, Arias said that in the
town of Tlapa de Comonfort alone,
two or three indigenous children
disappear each month. Other cases
have been reported in the towns of
Metlatónoc, Cochoapan El Grande,
Atixtlac and Acatepec.
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Among the cases documented by the
Tlachinollan Center is that of
Claudia, a 19-year-old indigenous
woman who has been missing for three
months from the community of
Yoxondacua del Carmen, in the
Cochoapan El Grande municipality –
one of the poorest regions in
Mexico.
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She traveled to the town of Tlapa de
Comonfort to find work and was
employed by a street vendor who sold
fruit. That is the last that anyone
has heard from her.
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The family has no documentation of
the existence of Claudia, neither a
birth certificate nor photographs,
which makes the intervention of the
authorities difficult.
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"This is traumatic for the families.
Here in the Mountain region, many
children and adults are not
officially registered. Many cases go
unreported because in order to file
a report of a missing person, the
family
must
present documentation of their
existence," says Arias.
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According to the technical
coordination of the State System of
Vital Records, Guerrero is 300 000
people who have no birth certificate
or other document to be identified.
Of that amount, 60% are children and
40% adults.
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Dowries and sales
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The Tlachinollan Center documented
allegations in the Mountain region
of parents who take their children
to work as laborers in other states
before returning without them. The
parents then report them as having
disappeared. In other cases,
complaints were filed because
families had handed over their 12-
to 15year-old daughters in exchange
for cash, in accordance with their
indigenous traditions.
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In some cases, girls are taken to
the families of their boyfriends in
exchange for a "dowry" of 100
thousand pesos [$7,300 US dollars].
One nongovernmental organization
called this a "business" that
fosters domestic violence because
the boyfriend consider the woman [or
underage girl] to be their property.
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The sale of underage girls continues
to take place in towns such as
Cochoapan El Grande, Metlatónoc,
Atixtlac and Acatepec, which are
considered to be among the poorest
areas in Mexico.
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In these regions, families view
their daughters as merchandise.
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In 2008 in the municipality of
Atixtlac, three girls - ages 14, 15
and 16 - were sold for amounts
between 30 and 50 thousand pesos
[between $2,200 and $3,600 US
dollars] by a man who is now on
trial for the crime of human
trafficking.
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The man had posed as the father of
the girl victims, after having
entrapped them with false job offers
stating that he would pay them 5,000
pesos [$360 US dollars] per month to
perform domestic work. After
accepting the offers, the girls were
put to work as unpaid domestic
slaves.
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Informador
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Sep. 26,
2011
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Added: Sep. 25, 2011
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Honduras
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Sex
traffickers are increasingly
targeting underage indigenous girls
from Honduras. |
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The victims, who are typically
between the ages of 12 and 15, are
for the most part taken to Mexico's
southern border city of Tapachula,
in the state of Chiapas. We note
that Save the Children has
identified the southern Mexico
border region near Guatemala as
being the largest zone of commercial
sexual exploitation of children
(CSEC) in the world. Tapachula is
the center of that hell. |
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-
LibertadLatina |
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Miskito indigenous girl
children in Honduras
See also:
Indigenous communities in
Honduras – like indigenous
communities around the world
– are among the most poor
and marginalized. Working
with
Change for Children's
local partner Alianza Verde,
[our] project works with
indigenous women’s
associations to build
capacity, develop a strong
network amongst indigenous
communities, educate about
women’s rights and engage
communities in national
level policy dialogue.
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Change for Children |
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Aumenta
trata de niñas indígenas en Honduras
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La mayoría de las menores tienen
entre 12 y 15 años de edad
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Tegucigalpa, Honduras - La trata de
niñas indígenas de Honduras hacia
México ha aumentado, denunciaron
organizaciones mexicanas en contra
de la explotación sexual infantil.
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La miembro
de la organización Enlace,
Comunicación y Capacitación, Ana
Elena Barrios, aseguró que la
mayoría de las menores tienen entre
los 12 y 15 años de edad y son
explotadas en la ciudad de Chiapas,
fronteriza con Tapachula.
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Barrios
advirtió que este es “uno de los
puntos de prostitución más grande
del mundo”. Opinó que aparte de
Honduras, igualmente ha aumentado la
trata de niñas indígenas de
Guatemala y El Salvador, hacia
México.
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La coautora
de la investigación "Sur inicio de
un camino", que versa sobre los
derechos de la población migrante
centroamericana, reveló que hay
nuevas rutas, más aisladas, para
introducir centroamericanas a través
de la zona de la Mesilla, del
municipio Frontera de Comapala,
Chiapas.
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Este
fenómeno a la alza es ignorado en
México por discriminación racial y
de género, señaló América Martínez,
de la Asociación para el Desarrollo
Integral (APADI), que realiza
campañas de salud sexual en
sexoservidoras y contra la trata.
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Así funciona la trata
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Los
compradores pueden ser hombres de la
comunidad que migraron y ahora son
"enganchadores", o desconocidos que
emborrachan a los padres o
autoridades locales y van por niñas
desde los ocho años de edad, revelan
las investigaciones.
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“El que
busca sexualmente a estas niñas
obviamente es mucho más violento,
porque es una expresión absoluta de
poder, donde ellas no tienen ninguna
opción de defenderse, ni siquiera de
usar condón”, lamentó América
Martínez.
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Otro
mecanismo de los "enganchadores" es
el de enamorar a las adolescentes y
prometerles casarse, y uno más el de
ofrecer empleo fuera de la
comunidad.
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Esas niñas
terminan en prostíbulos de la
región, son esclavas laborales o se
trafica con sus órganos, por lo que
también se les lleva a otros estados
mexicanos o incluso a Estados
Unidos, indican los estudios.
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Teresa
Ulloa, titular de la Coalición
Regional Contra el Tráfico de
Mujeres y Niñas en América Latina y
el Caribe (CATW en sus siglas en
inglés), observa que el incremento
de este delito también se debe a “la
llegada del crimen organizado a las
comunidades indígenas” y a la
fallida estrategia del Estado contra
el narcotráfico.
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En su
opinión el narco recién descubrió en
las niñas en general un potencial a
explotar “porque no se les pone
atención, y ya las empezaron a
reclutar de halconas, sicarias,
mulas o de esclavas sexuales, y eso
es trata, porque al final las están
usando para proteger su negocio”.
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Igualmente responsabilizó del
aumento de la trata infantil a la
estrategia del Estado contra el
narco: “generalmente donde se mueve
el operativo conjunto hay más trata
hacia ese lugar, más violaciones de
mujeres, más consumo de
prostitución, y más feminicidos”.
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El Heraldo
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Honduras
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Sep. 22, 2011
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Added: Sep. 23, 2011
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Mexico
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Indigenous women and children in Mexico |
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Activists raise the alarm bell
in regard to the explosive
growth in the kidnapping and
sexual enslavement of indigenous
children by human traffickers
across Mexico
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Human traffickers target large
numbers of indigenous children
for sexual slavery across Mexico
because their victims are
discriminated against by the
larger society, and because they
do not speak Spanish and have
been raised with docile
personalities.
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In response, government
has not addressed the issue -
which aslo involves dynamics of
institutional racism against
indigenous peoples. The rate of
their kidnapping for purposes of
sexual enslavement has increased
alarmingly over the past 3
years.
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Aumenta la trata de niñas
indígenas
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Activistas advierten que desde
hace tres años creció de “manera
alarmante” la trata infantil
indígena y que se ignora por
discriminación racial
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El 14 de julio la niña maya
Juane Belem Rojas fue
secuestrada en su propia casa de
la comunidad de Morocoy,
Quintana Roo, por una red de
trata sexual. La Agencia Federal
de Investigación (AFI) la
rescató quince días después en
Villa Hermosa, Tabasco.
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En la capital mexicana, María,
una niña chiapaneca tzeltal de
13 años, fue rescatada en un
operativo realizado el 22 de
mayo en el callejón de
Manzanares de la Merced. María
fue la víctima de menor edad del
grupo de 61 mujeres liberadas de
en el operativo.
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Rebeca Ruiz Gómez, tzotzil de 16
años de edad, vendía artesanías
con su abuela en la plaza de San
Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas.
El primero de mayo una familia
que dijo vivir en Cuautitlán,
Estado de México, le ofreció
trabajo en el servicio doméstico
y se la llevó. Ahora se ignora
el paradero de Rebeca.
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Teresa Ulloa, titular de la
Coalición Regional Contra el
Tráfico de Mujeres y Niñas en
América Latina y el Caribe, A.C.
(CATW en sus siglas en inglés),
considera que éstos casos son
representativos del incremento
en la trata de niñas indígenas
en México con fines de
explotación sexual y laboral.
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El aumento de la trata indígena
en México “es alarmante”, dice.
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Ulloa explica que no hay
investigaciones ni datos
confiables de trata indígena en
ninguna parte del país, pero de
60 casos que atiende ahora 10
por ciento son de niñas y
mujeres indígenas, y las etnias
representan un porcentaje menor
en la población nacional (entre
7 y 10 por ciento).
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Su lectura surge también de su
investigación de campo titulada
Revalorización de las mujeres
indígenas de los Altos de
Chiapas, realizada por CATW
entre 2010 y 2011 y hasta ahora
inédita.
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Otras especialistas y activistas
indígenas coinciden con Ulloa.
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La diputada Rosi Orozco,
presidenta de la Comisión
Especial contra la Trata de
Personas, expone el caso de
distintos ejidos del municipio
de Tamuín, San Luis Potosí, en
donde recientemente han
secuestrado a niñas y a un niño
pertenecientes “a 15 familias,
muchas de ellas indígenas”.
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La nahua Guadalupe Martínez,
representante de la Alianza de
Mujeres Indígenas de
Centroamérica y de México en el
centro del país, señala que cada
vez se observan más casos de
trata laboral o sexual “en
pueblos mazahuas, otomíes,
ñañus, mixtecos”. |
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Los mecanismos
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Ana Elena Barrios, de la
organización Enlace,
Comunicación y capacitación,
coautora de la investigación Sur
inicio de un camino, que versa
sobre los derechos de la
población migrante
centroamericana, opina
igualmente ha aumentado la trata
de niñas indígenas de Guatemala,
Salvador y Honduras a México.
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Asegura que la mayoría de ellas
está en los 12 y 15 años de edad
y son explotadas en la ciudad
chiapaneca fronteriza de
Tapachula, “uno de los puntos de
prostitución más grande del
mundo”. Advierte que hay nuevas
rutas, más aisladas, para
introducir centroamericanas a
través de la zona de la Mesilla,
del municipio Frontera de
Comapala, Chiapas.
|
|
Este fenómeno a la alza es
ignorado en México por
discriminación racial y de
género, opina América Martínez,
de la Asociación para el
Desarrollo Integral (APADI), que
realiza campañas de salud sexual
en sexoservidoras y contra la
trata.
|
|
“No es lo mismo que secuestren
al hijo de Alejandro Martí que a
una niña indígena”, dice en
referencia al secuestro y
asesinato del hijo del
empresario que movilizó al
gobierno federal y local y a la
sociedad en general.
Ulloa
piensa que las niñas indígenas
son más vulnerables a la trata
porque muchas son monolingües,
culturalmente son dóciles,
pudieron ser víctimas de
violencia intrafamiliar, y
crecieron en poblados de extrema
pobreza y marginación.
Su
estudio se realizó en tres
municipios chiapanecos:
Chenalhó, San Juan Chamula y
Oxchuc, conocidos por tener
población mayoritariamente
católica, con militancia en el
Partido Revolucionario
Institucional (PRI) y con altos
grados de alcoholismo.
|
|
La especialista dice que en
estas poblaciones dominadas por
el sistema patriarcal las
mujeres no valen, por lo que
aumenta la practica de venta de
niñas por parte de sus padres.
|
|
Los compradores pueden ser
hombres de la comunidad que
migraron y ahora son
enganchadores, o desconocidos
que emborrachan a los padres o
autoridades locales y van por
niñas desde los ocho años de
edad.
|
|
“El que busca sexualmente a
estas niñas obviamente es mucho
más violento, porque es una
expresión absoluta de poder,
donde ellas no tienen ninguna
opción de defenderse, ni
siquiera de usar condón”.
|
|
Refiere que en algunos casos la
venta se realiza a través de un
ritual de tres visitas en el que
participan autoridades locales.
|
|
Los compradores llevan “rejas de
refresco, pan, carne, y cada vez
más se da una transacción en
efectivo que va de 3 mil a 20
mil pesos”.
|
|
En un caso contrastante,
destaca, las mujeres de las
comunidades zapatistas
chiapanecas exigieron en 1994
eliminar esa práctica ancestral
en su Ley Revolucionaria de
Mujeres “para que ellas elijan
con quien casarse”.
|
|
Otro mecanismo de los
enganchadores es el de enamorar
a las adolescentes y prometerles
casarse, y uno más el de ofrecer
empleo fuera de la comunidad.
|
|
Dice que estas prácticas también
se acostumbran en otros estados.
Esas niñas terminan en
prostíbulos de la región, son
esclavas laborales o se trafica
con sus órganos, por lo que
también se les lleva a otros
estados o incluso a Estados
Unidos.
|
|
Ulloa observa que el incremento
de este delito también se debe a
“la llegada del crimen
organizado a las comunidades
indígenas” y a la fallida
estrategia del Estado contra el
narcotráfico.
|
|
En su opinión el narco recién
descubrió en las niñas en
general un potencial a explotar
“porque no se les pone atención,
y ya las empezaron a reclutar de
halconas, sicarias, mulas o de
esclavas sexuales, y eso es
trata, porque al final las están
usando para proteger su
negocio”.
|
|
Igualmente responsabilizó del
aumento de la trata infantil a
la estrategia del Estado contra
el narco: “generalmente donde se
mueve el operativo conjunto hay
más trata hacia ese lugar, más
violaciones de mujeres, más
consumo de prostitución, y más
feminicidos”.
|
|
La respuesta institucional
|
|
Actualmente el Estado no cuenta
con un modelo de atención a
víctimas indígenas de trata.
|
|
Sara Irene Herrerías, titular de
la Fiscalía Especial para los
delitos de Violencia contra las
Mujeres y Trata de personas
(FEVIMTRA), dice que sin embargo
“hay avances” en la Comisión
intersecretarial para prevenir y
sancionar la trata de personas,
pues se realizan cápsulas
preventivas que se difunden en
lenguas indígenas en algunas
comunidades.
|
|
La aprobación de la Ley General
contra la Trata de Personas el
pasado 3 de agosto es desatacada
por la diputada Orozco, pues
considera que además de
sancionar con penas más graves a
los victimarios, sí especifica
la condición indígena.
|
|
Sin embargo, la coautora del
libro sobre trata titulado Del
cielo al infierno en un día,
enfatiza que es importante
homologar esa ley en todos los
estados, pues actualmente sólo
16 tienen ley contra la trata.
|
|
Además piensa que esta ley no
servirá si no se realizan
operativos de rescate y se crean
equipos interdisciplinarios para
acompañar y proteger a las
víctimas hasta el final del
proceso.
|
|
Tampoco la ley servirá si no se
sentencia a victimarios. Dice
que en el país sólo en el
Distrito Federal, Chiapas y
Puebla se ha sentenciado a
proxenetas.
|
|
“Existe la impunidad porque no
hay sentencias, y porque en
algunos estados estas son
mayores por robarse una vaca que
una niña”.
|
|
Rodolfo Casillas, autor del
libro Me acuerdo
bien…testimonios y percepciones
de trata de niñas y mujeres en
la Ciudad de México, precisa que
antes de legislar y de
establecer programas “hace falta
reunir información pertinente
sobre los efectos y
consecuencias de la trata de
personas en comunidades
indígenas, y no se observa en el
gobierno federal disposición
alguna (presupuesto, programas,
personal) para ello”.
|
|
Laura Castellanos
El
Mercurio Digital
Sep. 22,
2011
|
Mexico
|
|
|
Indigenous girls in Mexico live under constant threat from
international sex traffickers |
|
 |
|
Oaxaca state |
Investigan a comunidades indígenas por supuesta venta de niñas
Las autoridades mexicanas iniciaron una investigación en varios pueblos y
comunidades indígenas en el estado de Oaxaca, donde supuestamente las familias
venden a niñas, informó hoy la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH,
defensoría del pueblo).
El organismo público inició una queja de oficio por esos casos de
abuso contra mujeres en la región de la Mixteca Alta, en el sureño
estado de Oaxaca, indicó la dependencia en un comunicado.
La CNDH explicó que se trata de una "costumbre ancestral" que "al
parecer se sigue llevando a cabo", en la que "se vende a las menores
en cuanto llegan a los once años y hasta los 15 años".
"Los padres han encontrado la manera de negociar y a cambio de
dinero dar a sus hijas, ya sea al futuro esposo o a familias que las
llevan a otras ciudades para ayudar en labores domésticas", explicó
la defensoría.
Una vez que son vendidas hasta por tres mil pesos (250 dólares) o el
equivalente en productos varios como cabezas de ganado, fríjol o
maíz, los padres renuncian a todo derecho sobre las menores, agregó
la institución.
Los pueblos y comunidades indígenas en México gozan de cierta
autonomía, por las leyes de "usos y costumbres" del país, pero se
deben ceñir a "lo establecido en la Constitución" de México "en
materia de derechos humanos", consideró.
Las mujeres indígenas son uno de los grupos más vulnerables y menos
atendidos del país, subrayó la CNDH, y es importante la defensa de
sus derechos humanos.
En México 10,1 millones de habitantes (9,8 % de la población) son
considerados indígenas.
Según el Consejo Nacional de Población (Conapo), siete de cada diez
hablantes de lengua indígena reside en municipios con alto grado de
marginación.
La población indígena es más pobre que el resto de los mexicanos, y
esa condición se evidencia en menores niveles salariales, educación
de menor calidad y, en general, en un acceso restringido a los
servicios públicos.
Los estados con mayor presencia de indígenas son Yucatán (65,5 %),
Oaxaca (55,7 %), Quintana Roo (45,6 %) y Chiapas (30,9 %).
De acuerdo con Unicef, los indígenas en México, en especial los
niños, niñas y adolescentes, constituyen la población con mayores
carencias y menor grado de cumplimiento de sus derechos
fundamentales.
Mexican authorities investigate
the suposed sale of girl
children in indigenous
communities
Mexic's National Human Rights
Commission (CNDH) has announced
that they are investigating a
number of indigenous communities
in the state of Oaxaca, where
families supposedly sell their
girl children.
According to a press release
from the agency, the CNDH opened
a formal complaint in regard to
reported cases of abuses against
female minors in the Mixteca
Alta region of southern Oaxaca
state.
The statement said that the
problem involves ancestral
customs that "apparently are
still being followed," in which
girl children are sold between
the ages of 11 and 15.
"The parents have found a way to
negotiate the sale of their
daughters in exchange for money,
be it to a future husband or to
a family that wants to take the
girl to be a domestic worker.
Once the girl is sold, for the
equivalent of 3,000 Pesos
(US$250) or its equivalent in
head of cattle or beans or corn,
the parents renounce any
parental rights in regard to the
child.
The indigenous peoples of Mexico
enjoy a certain level of
autonomy, but they should follow
the requirements of Mexico's
constitution, said the press
release.
Indigenous women are one of the
most marginalized and
underserved communities in
Mexico, emphasized the CNDH
statement...
The indigenous population is
more impoverished than the rest
of Mexico, a fact that is
reflected in the lower salaries
paid, the substandard education
and, in general, the
restrictions that are placed on
their access to public services.
The state with the highest
indigenous populations are (65,5
% of the total population),
Oaxaca (55,7 %), Quintana Roo
(45,6 %) y Chiapas (30,9 %).
According to the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF),
indigenous peoples in Mexico,
and especially boys, girls and
adolescents, constitute the
demographic group that suffers
from the highest levels of
poverty and the lowest level of
compliance with enforcement of
their human rights.
EFE
Aug. 19, 2011
See also:
Added June 28, 2008
Guatemala, Mexico
Rigoberta Menchú denuncia venta de niñas indígenas
Centroamérica y México
Mayan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Rigoberta Menchu denounces the sale of indigenous children into sexual slavery
in Central America and Mexico
[Mayan human rights leader] Rigoberta Menchú, the
1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, during a visit to Veracruz, Mexico, has
denounced the sale of indigenous girls in Mexico and Central America, in which
traditional indigenous marriage customs are perverted by criminal gangs to force
underage girls into sexual slavery.
According to information from Prensa Libre, Menchu
said that the trade in minors involved organized mafias, doctors, lawyers,
legislators and local authorities.
Menchu regretted that the sale of children, mainly
girls, occurs with the knowledge of officials within indigenous communities.
Menchu protested the fact that in Guatemala, there
is an extensive, underground trade in boys and girls, which authorities find
hard to detect.
Menchu stated that many nongovern-mental
organizations have denounced this situation, and that they are mainly concerned
by the fact that families 'sell' [underage] girls to older men to become wives.
In reality, the girls [typically in the age range of 11 to 13] are resold [to
child sex traffickers and pimps] for sexual exploitation. she noted.
The Nobel laureate said that in southeastern Mexico
and across Guatemala this practice is common. She asked that the public report
these sales of children.
Finally, Menchu announced that the Rigoberta Menchu
Foundation has signed an agreement with the state government of Veracruz
[Mexico] to perform various prevention measures in rural [indigenous]
communities.
- CERIGUA
Guatemalan Human
Rights News
June. 27, 2008
See also:
Launch event for the book ‘Mirame,’ shining a light on
challenges facing indigenous girls in Guatemala
Manuel Manrique, UNICEF Represent-ative in
Guatemala:
“Indigenous people in general are
discriminated against, the indigenous child doubly discriminated against, [and]
the indigenous girl triply discriminated against.” “If you review the life
cycle from birth until 18 years of age, the situation of the indigenous girl is
worse than that of others...”
'Mirame is a project of UNICEF and the Office of the Public
Defender of Indigenous Women in Guatemala.
- UNICEF
Guatemala City
Aug. 22, 2007
See also:
LibertadLatina
Special Section
About the crisis of sexual exploitation facing indigenous
women and children
in Guatemala's civil war aftermath - including the history
of Mayan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu.
|
|
Mexico
|
 |
|
Protest in Mexico - The poster says: "NO to the Abusers of Children"
Photo:
El Diario de Coahuila
|
5,000 denuncias por robo de niños en 3 años
En los últimos tres años se han abierto 5,000 averiguaciones previas por el robo de niños en diversos estados del país, principalmente en los puertos turísticos de Acapulco, Manzanillo, Veracruz y Cancún
El director general de la Fundación Nacional de Investigaciones de Niños Robados y Desaparecidos, Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero, explicó que estos robos son generalmente para explotar a los pequeños en los rubros de prostitución, pornografía infantil o venta de órganos.
Un estudio realizado por el Sistema de Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), en coordinación con el Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (Unicef), reveló que fueron detectados 45,000 niños en México que han sido víctimas de la prostitución...
Five thousand criminal complaints have been filed in child
kidnapping cases during the past 3 years
During the past three years 5,000 preliminary investigations child kidnappings
have been opened across Mexico. The cases have focused on the tourist ports of
Acapulco, Manzanillo, Veracruz and Cancun.
Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero, general
director of the National Foundation for Investigation of Kidnapped and
Disappeared Children, explained that these young victims are typically used in
child prostitution or for the sale of human organs.
A study done by Mexico’s national
social welfare agency, the System for Integral Family Development (DIF), in
coordination with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), notes that 45,000
children in Mexico have been identified as being victims of prostitution.
Gutiérrez Romero declared that
between 5,000 and 6,000 children are victims of child prostitution in the
coastal resort city of Cancun, where both Mexican and Central American children
are exploited.
“We are very concerned that Cancun
has one of the highest rates of child prostitution among tourist resorts. In
general, the victims are children in the 4 to 5-year-old age range,” said
Gutiérrez Romero.
Gutiérrez Romero said that Mexico,
Cuba and the United States occupy top spots in the commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC). In many cases, the trafficking mafias rely upon
the collaboration of the authorities.
In November of 2010, an operation
mounted by U.S. authorities against child prostitution networks in the United
States rescued 69
minors, and resulted in the arrests of 884 persons.
El Diario de Coahuila
Feb. 25, 2011
See also:
Mexico
|
 |
|
Indigenous
girl
children in
Mexico:
Always at
risk from
sex
traffickers,
U.S. and
European
pedophile
sex tourists
and a
government
that doesn't
care. |
|
 |
|
Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero, who is the president of Mexico's National Foundation
for the
Investigation
of Kidnapped
and
Disappeared
Children,
is shown
here in a
video of a
press
conference
held during December of 2010, where he discussed
the
disappearances
of 140,000
children in
Mexico
during the
past 5 years. |
De cada 10 niños robados uno es recuperado
En México, se estima que por cada diez niños que son robados sólo uno es recuperado, por lo que urge que se tipifique este hecho, como un delito federal y se integren unidades policíacas especializadas de investigación.
Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero, presidente de la
Fundación Nacional de Investigación de Niños Robados y Desaparecidos, observó que este ilícito, comienza, a presentarse con mayor frecuencia en zonas indígenas del país, donde los padres de familia, no cuentan con documentos o fotografías de sus menores que permitan abrir indagatorias...
Only one out of 10 kidnapped children in Mexico is ever recovered
The kidnapping of indigenous children is accelerating due to
the impunity that is made possible by language barriers and a lack of children's birth certificates and photographs
An estimated 50,000 children have been kidnapped and are now living on the streets under the control of sexual exploiters
It is estimated that for every ten children who are kidnapped in Mexico, only one is rescued. Activists are therefore urging the passage of legislation creating a federal crime of child kidnapping and the standing-up of specialized law enforcement units to respond to the problem.
Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero, who is the president of the
National Foundation for
the Investigation of Kidnapped and Disappeared Children believes that the crime of
child kidnapping is focused on indigenous regions of Mexico, where the parents of victims do not have birth certificates or photographs that would allow the authorities to investigate their cases.
Gutiérrez Romero added that human trafficking has become the third most profitable criminal activity globally, after arms and drug smuggling. This requires, he said, that the legislative branch of the federal government reform the nation's laws, so that human trafficking becomes a federal crime.
[Note, the nation's current federal Law to Prevent, and Punish Human Trafficking, passed by Congress in 2007 is not enforceable by federal
police agencies in any of this nation's states, nor in Mexico City. -
LL]
No statistical reporting mechanisms exist in any of Mexico's states to identify unusual patterns in child kidnappings, said Gutiérrez Romero. Therefore, he
said,
criminal networks operate with complete impunity.
From Gutiérrez Romero's perspective, these kidnappings have three purposes:
1) to sell these children to couples via illegal adoptions;
2) to use the victims for sexual exploitation; and
3) to illegally extract their organs
Gutiérrez Romero emphasized that the kidnappings of infants and young children is perpetrated specifically to supply the illegal adoptions market. He has recommended that hospitals and clinics step-up security in their facilities.
The kidnapping of children between the ages of 3 and 6 represents a particular pattern, noted Gutiérrez Romero. He said that many young couples in which the woman wants to preserve her figure seek out clandestine adoptions of children in this age range.
Gutiérrez Romero declared that the only statistics that are available about child kidnappings in Mexico indicate that at least 50,000 of these victims live on the streets and are exploited by sex trafficking networks, while at the same time nobody [particularly in law enforcement] takes action to rescue them.
What is striking is that now, in southern Mexico and especially among the indigenous peoples of the region, this phenomenon is beginning to accelerate, especially because the language, spoken by he parents of the victims is not Spanish, said Gutiérrez Romero.
A second problem that impedes the documentation of each of these cases is the fact that parents do not have birth certificates, photographs or other documents that are
required to create the case file that is needed to begin the search.
Gutiérrez Romero concluded by saying that families, schools and hospitals must develop approaches to protect children, and they must fight back, so that the federal authorities echo our demands to pass legislation that responds to this phenomenon.
El Universal
Dec. 09, 2010
Additional information about the work of
Guillermo Gutiérrez Romero and Mexico's National
Foundation for Investigation of Kidnapped and Disappeared Children may be found
in our December, 2010 news archive.
|
Mexico
|
 |
|
Map
shows the number of types of child slavery that occurs in the
nations of Latin America and the Caribbean |
Indigenous children are the focal point for underage sex and labor slavery in Mexico
Around 1.5 million children do not attend school at all in Mexico, having or choosing to work instead. Indigenous children are often child laborers. Throughout Central and South America, indigenous people are frequently marginalized, both economically and socially. Many have lost their traditional land rights and they migrate in order to find paid work. This can in turn make indigenous peoples more vulnerable to exploitative and forced labor practices.
According to the web site Products of Slavery.org, child slavery, especially that which exploits indigenous
children, is used to generate profits in the following industries in Mexico:
|
* The production of child
pornography
* The production of coffee,
tobacco, beans, chile peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, onions,
sugarcane and tomatoes - much of which is sold for export
|
Key facts about Mexican child sex
and labor exploitation defined on the Product of Slavery:
|
* Many indigenous children in
Mexico aged between seven and 14 work during the green bean harvest
from 7am until 7pm, meaning they cannot attend school.
* Amongst Mexico's indigenous
peoples, 86% of children, aged six years and over, are engaged in
strenuous physical labor in the fields six days a week working to
cultivate agricultural produce such as chile peppers.
* Indigenous child labor keeps
costs of production down for Mexican companies as boys and girls
from indigenous families are frequently denied recognition of their
legal status as workers, charged with the least skilled tasks, such
as harvesting cucumbers, and so receive the lowest pay.
* Child labor is widespread in
Mexico's agricultural sector; in 2000, it was discovered that 11 and
12 year olds were working on the family ranch of the then-President
elect, Vicente Fox, harvesting onions, potatoes, and corn for export
to the United States.
[I know two U.S. ICE agents who can add 'another
paragraph' to the above statement
-
LL.]
* Mexican children who are
exploited by the sex industry and involved in activities such as
pornography and prostitution suffer physical injuries, long-term
psychological damage with the strong possibility of developing
suicidal tendencies and are at high risk of contracting AIDS,
tuberculosis and other life-threatening illnesses.
* There are strong links between
tourism and the sexual exploitation of children in Mexico; tourist
centers such as Acapulco, Cancun and Tijuana are prime locations
where thousands of children are used in the production of
pornographic material and child prostitution is rife.
* Mexican street children are
vulnerable to being lured into producing pornographic material with
promises of toys, food, money, and accommodation; they then find
themselves prisoners, locked for days or weeks on end in hotel rooms
or apartments, hooked on drugs and suffering extreme physical and
sexual violence.
* David Salgado was just eight
years old when he was crushed by a tractor as he went to empty the
bucket of tomatoes he had just collected on the Mexican vegetable
farm where he worked with his family. The company paid his funeral
expenses but refused to pay compensation to his family as David was
not a formal employee.
|
The web site explores child enslavement in all of the nations shown in the above
map.
Products of Slavery
|
See also:
|
|
Added: Dec. 19, 2008
|
|
Mexico
|
 |
|
Teresa Ulloa |
|
|
En Japón, de 3 a 4
mil niñas mexicanas
víctimas de ESCI
|
|
Afirma la experta
Teresa Ulloa
|
|
Teresa Ulloa: Three to four
thousand
underage indigenous
girls from the poor
states of Oaxaca,
Chiapas, Guerrero
and the state of]
Mexico have become
victims of
commercial sexual
exploitation of
children (CSEC) in
Japan.
|
|
Puebla city, in Puebla state
- Teresa Ulloa, Latin America and Caribbean
Director of the
Coalition Against
Trafficking of Women
(CATW) announced her
estimates of the
numbers of
indigenous children
sex trafficked to
Japan, and explained
that traffickers
trick their victims
using offers of
thousands of dollars
for their parents in
exchange for
[obtaining
permission] to take
their daughters. The
parents are told
that their girls are
going to the United
States to work in
fast food restaurant
jobs.
|
|
Taking advantage of the condition of
submission that
Mexico's indigenous
communities are
forced to live in,
the traffickers take
their victims to
Japan where they are
prostituted and work
as geishas...
|
|
Ulloa said that before these victims
from Japan are
repatriated, the
home conditions of
these girls must be
investigated to
assure that they can
be reintegrated
without facing the
risk of being sold
or sexually
exploited again.
|
|
Ulloa noted that in the year 2002 the
CATW helped to
repatriate two
sisters, ages 8 and
10, who had been
prostituted in a
brothel in New York.
They were subjected
to exploitation
again, 15 days
later, because their
family "had sold
their daughters in
exchange for two
goats and two cases
of beer."
|
|
Ulloa added that today these two girls
live with a new
family in the U.S.,
and are now learning
English.
|
|
During her interview with CIMAC
Noticias, Ulloa
declared: "the
subject [of child
protection] is not
on the national
agenda. Much
attention is paid to
drug trafficking,
but the government
hasn't even realized
that the same drug
trafficking networks
are used for the
[sex] trafficking of
children, and that
organized crime
regards this
activity to be one
of their most
important
businesses."
|
|
Ulloa stated the above knowing that "a
nation that doesn't
guarantee the lives,
security, dignity
and liberty of its
children is
condemned, sooner or
later, to loose its
ability to progress
or to have social
values."
|
|
For these reasons, Ulloa insists that
the government of
Mexico comply with
the international
agreements that it
has signed in regard
to these matters,
and that it supply
the resources needed
to protect children,
given that the
anti-drug efforts
are much better
funded.
|
|
Nadia Altamirano
Díaz
|
|
CIMAC Noticias
|
|
Dec. 12, 2008 |
Added: Dec.
19, 2008
Mexico
|
|
|
Teresa Ulloa |
En Japón, de 3 a 4 mil
niñas mexicanas víctimas de ESCI
Afirma la experta Teresa
Ulloa
Entre 3 y 4 mil niñas
indígenas originarias de
entidades pobres de México,
como Oaxaca, Chiapas,
Guerrero y el Estado de
México, son víctimas de
explotación sexual comercial
infantil en Japón...
Teresa Ulloa: Three to
four thousand underage
indigenous girls from the
poor states of Oaxaca,
Chiapas, Guerrero and the
state of] Mexico
have become victims of
commercial sexual
exploitation of children
(CSEC) in Japan.
Puebla city,
in Puebla state
- Teresa Ulloa, Latin America and
Caribbean Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women (CATW)
announced her estimates of the numbers of indigenous children sex
trafficked to Japan, and explained that traffickers trick their
victims using offers of thousands of dollars for their parents in
exchange for [obtaining permission] to take their daughters. The
parents are told that their girls are going to the United States to
work in fast food restaurant jobs.
Taking advantage of the
condition of submission that
Mexico's indigenous
communities are forced to
live in, the traffickers
take their victims to Japan
where they are prostituted
and work as geishas...
Ulloa said that before these
victims from Japan are
repatriated, the home
conditions of these girls
must be investigated to
assure that they can be
reintegrated without facing
the risk of being sold or
sexually exploited again.
Ulloa noted that in the year 2002 the
CATW helped to repatriate two sisters, ages 8 and 10, who had been
prostituted in a brothel in New York. They were subjected to
exploitation again, 15 days later, because their family "had sold
their daughters in exchange for two goats and two cases of beer."
Ulloa added that today these two girls
live with a new family in the U.S., and are now learning English.
During her interview with CIMAC Noticias,
Ulloa declared: "the subject [of child protection] is not on the
national agenda. Much attention is paid to drug trafficking, but the
government hasn't even realized that the same drug trafficking
networks are used for the [sex] trafficking of children, and that
organized crime regards this activity to be one of their most
important businesses."
Ulloa stated the above knowing that "a
nation that doesn't guarantee the lives, security, dignity and
liberty of its children is condemned, sooner or later, to loose its
ability to progress or to have social values."
For these reasons, Ulloa insists that
the government of Mexico comply with the international agreements
that it has signed in regard to these matters, and that it supply
the resources needed to protect children, given that the anti-drug
efforts are much better funded.
Nadia Altamirano Díaz
CIMAC Noticias
Dec. 12, 2008
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Added June 28, 2008
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Guatemala, Mexico
|
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|
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Rigoberta Menchú
denuncia venta de
niñas indígenas
Centroamérica y
México
|
|
Rigoberta
Menchu denounces the
sale of indigenous
girl children in
Central America and
Mexico
|
|
Mayan Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate
Rigoberta Menchu
denounces the sale
of indigenous
children into sexual
slavery
|
|
[Mayan human rights
leader] Rigoberta
Menchú, the 1992
Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, during a
visit to Veracruz,
Mexico, has
denounced the sale
of indigenous girls
in Mexico and
Central America, in
which traditional
indigenous marriage
customs are
perverted by
criminal gangs to
force underage girls
into sexual slavery.
|
|
According to
information from
Prensa Libre, Menchu
said that the trade
in minors involved
organized mafias,
doctors, lawyers,
legislators and
local authorities.
|
|
Menchu regretted
that the sale of
children, mainly
girls, occurs with
the knowledge of
officials within
indigenous
communities.
|
|
Menchu protested the
fact that in
Guatemala, there is
an extensive,
underground trade in
boys and girls,
which authorities
find hard to detect.
|
|
Menchu stated that
many non-governmental
organizations have
denounced this
situation, adding that
they are mainly
concerned by the
fact that families
'sell'
girls to older men
to become wives. In
reality, the girls
[typically in the
age range of 11 to
13] are resold [to
child sex
traffickers and
pimps] for sexual
exploitation. she
noted.
|
|
The Nobel laureate
said that in
southeastern Mexico
and across Guatemala
this practice is
common, and asked
that the public
report these sales
of children.
|
|
Finally, Menchu
announced that the
Rigoberta Menchu
Foundation has
signed an agreement
with the Government
of Veracruz [Mexico]
to perform various
prevention measures
in rural
[indigenous]
communities.
|
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- CERIGUA
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Guatemalan Human
Rights News
|
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June. 27, 2008
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El año
que "trafiqué" con mujeres
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Niñas virgenes de 13 años.
Presentadoras famosas que se venden
por varios millones de pesetas...
Antonio Salas publica en Temas de
Hoy una escalofriante investigación
sobre la prostitución en España.
Publicamos tres extractos
|
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Reporter:
The year that I 'trafficked' in
women.
|
|
An undercover reporter in Spain
reports on how he was offered six
13-year-old 'virgin' Mayan
indigenous girls who were for sale
by sex traffickers.
|
|
The sale
price in Europe for underage Mayan
girls kidnapped from Chiapas state
in Mexico is $25,000 each, because
they are considered to be 'exotic.'
|
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Antonio Salas and Joan Manuel
Baliellas
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Crónica
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Feb. 29, 2004
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LibertadLatina
News /
Noticias
|
|
Updated: Nov. 15, 2011
|
Mandanos
un... |
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Send us
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LibertadLatina
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Map
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Latest
News |
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Últimas Noticias |
|
Added: Nov. 15, 2011
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Greater Washington, DC USA
|
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Gangs
Enter New Territory With Sex
Trafficking
|
|
Though most are known to deal with
drugs and weapons, a new FBI threat
assessment says street gangs have
been moving into some different
territory lately: human trafficking.
The FBI says gang members
increasingly are pushing women and
children into prostitution.
|
|
The MS-13 gang got its start among
immigrants from El Salvador in the
1980s. Since then, the gang has
built operations in 42 states,
mostly out West and in the
Northeastern United States, where
members typically deal in drugs and
weapons.
|
|
But in Fairfax County, Virginia, one
of the wealthiest places in the
country, authorities have brought
five cases in the past year that
focus on gang members who have
pushed women, sometimes very young
women, into prostitution.
|
|
"We all know that human trafficking
is an issue around the world," says
Neil MacBride, the top federal
prosecutor in the area. "We hear
about child brothels in Thailand and
brick kilns in India, but it's
something that's in our own
backyard, and in the last year we've
seen street gangs starting to move
into sex trafficking."
|
|
In Virginia, at least, the
consequences can be severe. Over the
past few weeks, one member of MS-13
nicknamed "Sniper" got sent to
prison for the rest of his life.
Another will spend 24 years behind
bars for compelling two teenage
girls to sell themselves for money.
|
|
Usually, investigators say, gang
members charge between $30 and $50 a
visit, and the girls are forced into
prostitution 10 to 15 times a day.
|
|
It's easy money for MS-13 —
thousands of dollars in a weekend,
with virtually no costs. Except for
alcohol and drugs to try to keep the
girls off-kilter.
|
|
Often, the activity takes place at
construction sites, in the parking
lots of convenience stores and gas
stations.
|
|
"Yeah, this last case we worked, the
victim was 12 years old," says John
Torres, who leads the Homeland
Security Investigations unit at the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
office in Washington.
|
|
He says the girl, a runaway,
approached MS-13 gang members at a
Halloween party. She was looking for
a place to stay. Within hours, she
was forced to work as a prostitute.
|
|
"You have a gang that's taking
advantage of people that are in a
desperate situation, usually
runaways or someone that's looking
for help from the gang," Torres
says.
|
|
Joshua Skule, who oversees the
violent crime branch of the criminal
division at the FBI's field office
in Washington, lists some reasons
for street gangs' move into sex
trafficking.
|
|
"It is not like moving, or as risky
as moving narcotics. It is not as
risky as extorting business owners,"
he says. "And these victims really
have no way out."
|
|
Skule says they're like modern
indentured servants. The 12-year-old
girl involved in one of the recent
sex trafficking cases is safe now,
authorities say. But she'll be
dealing with the physical and
emotional scars for many years.
|
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"When someone leaves, there's a lot
of shame and guilt associated with
the time they were there," says
Victoria Hougham, a social worker
who helps victims and survivors of
sex trafficking.
|
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"They may have physical injuries
which can impact, especially for
young women, their sexual and
reproductive health."
|
|
Hougham works with
Polaris
Project,
a nonprofit that runs a 24-hour hot
line that helps connect victims of
human trafficking with police or
social services. She says survivors
of that kind of abuse do best when
they reconnect with their families
and get support from law
enforcement.
|
|
Prosecutors in Virginia say they
expect to bring more sex trafficking
cases against gang members over the
next several months.
|
|
Carrie Johnson
|
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All Things Considered
|
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National Public Radio
|
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Nov. 14, 2011
|
|
|
Added: Nov. 14, 2011
|
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Congressional anti trafficking leader Rosi
Orozco eulogizes Interior Department leaders in the war against modern
slavery
|
|
Mexico
|
|
|
|
Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior José
Francisco Blake Mora and other officials recently died in a
tragic helicopter accident.
|
|
|
Congressional deputy Rosi Orozco, president of
the Special Commission to Combat Human Trafficking in the
Chamber of Deputies
|
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Comunicado
|
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Con profunda tristeza me uno al dolor que
embarga a las familias de cada uno de los pasajeros que viajaban junto
con el Srio. de Gobernación
José Francisco Blake Mora,
en el trágico
accidente sucedido el día de ayer; Felipe de Jesús Zamora Castro,
subsecretario de Asuntos Jurídicos y Derechos Humanos [y otros]…,
quienes sirviendo a su Nación, perdieron su vida.
|
|
Siempre estaremos agredecidos por el
apoyo del Srio. José Francisco Blake quien en funciones subió el tema
del delito de Trata de Personas al Consejo de Seguridad Nacional
equiparando así este delito con el de secuestro. En todo momento fue un
hombre dispuesto y determinado a luchar por tener un mejor país, una
mejor Nación, un mejor México para nacionales y extranjeros.
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Felipe de Jesús Zamora,
gran aliado en la
lucha contra la Trata de Personas, comprometido con la campaña de la ONU
en contra de este crimen, portando todos los días en la solapa de su
traje el símbolo del Corazón Azul, su pérdida para mí es irreparable.
|
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Press Release
|
|
It is with deep sadness that I join with the
pain felt by the families of each of the passengers who were traveling
with Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior
José Francisco Blake Mora
during the tragic [helicopter] accident that happened yesterday...,
including Felipe de Jesús Zamora Castro, Secretary of Legal Affairs and
Human Rights at the Interior Department.
|
|
We will always be thankful for the
support of Secretary Blake Mora, who raised the issue of human
trafficking before the National Security Council, where he equated
trafficking with crime of kidnapping [which is penalized much more
severely under Mexican law]. The Secretary was at all times a man
willing and determined to fight for a better country, a better nation, a
better Mexico for nationals and foreigners.
|
|
[Another victim of the crash,
Undersecretary of the Interior for Judicial
Affairs and Human Rights] Felipe de Jesus Zamora was a great ally in the
fight against trafficking in persons. He was committed to [Mexico’s
collaboration with] the United Nations Blue Heart campaign against
trafficking, wearing therir blue heart pin on his lapel each and every
day. His loss is irreparable.
|
|
I join the pain of all Mexicans, who
have lost brave servants of our nation. They defended the values which
make Mexico great through their day-to-day hard work and determination.
I sympathize with their beloved families, peers and colleagues.
|
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Attentively
|
|
Atentamente
|
|
Diputada Federal Rosi Orozco
|
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Nov. 11, 2011
|
|
|
Added: Nov. 14, 2011
|
|
Mexico
|
|
|
|
Protest sign says "We need authorities
who will indeed protect us - not rapists."
|
|
|
La CIDH admite el caso de 11 mujeres mexicanas
que acusan tortura sexual
|
|
La Comisión Interamericana investigará una denuncia de violación de un
grupo mujeres en un operativo policial en San Salvador Atenco en 2006
|
|
Según la documentación de organizaciones civiles, al menos 26 mujeres
fueron violadas, de las cuales, 11 acudieron ante la CIDH (Cuartoscuro
Archivo).
|
|
La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) admitió investigar
el caso de 11 mujeres mexicanas que aseguran que fueron víctimas de
tortura sexual durante una represión policial en 2006 en San Salvador
Atenco, en el Estado de México.
|
|
Durante el 143° periodo ordinario de sesiones, la CIDH emitió un informe
para comenzar a investigar la petición 512-08 Mariana Selvas Gómez y
otros vs. México, interpuesta en abril de 2008 bajo el cargo de dilación
de justicia por la nula investigación en el caso.
|
|
“Ni la Fiscalía Especial de Delitos Violentos Contra las Mujeres y Trata
de Personas (Fevimtra) ni la Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado
de México (PGJEM) han realizado una adecuada investigación y ningún
policía, de los más de 2,500 agentes que intervinieron, ha sido
sancionado”, acusa el Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro
Juárez (Centro Prodh), que lleva el caso legal de las denunciantes.
|
|
La Comisión investigará ahora si el Estado mexicano cometió violaciones
de derechos humanos y dará a conocer sus conclusiones en cuanto la parte
acusadora y el gobierno mexicano sean notificados sobre las mismas.
|
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La población de San Salvador de Atenco se movilizó en febrero y mayo de
2006 contra la expropiación de tierras en San Salvador Atenco para la
construcción de un nuevo aeropuerto internacional en el centro del país.
La protesta derivó en un enfrentamiento en el que participaron 2,500
policías de los tres órdenes de gobierno. Dos personas murieron y 207
fueron detenidas.
|
|
Organizaciones civiles como el Centro Prodh denuncian que durante el
operativo del 3 y 4 de mayo de 2006, al menos 26 mujeres fueron víctimas
de tortura sexual; de las cuáles, 11 presentaron una querella ante la
CIDH.
|
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Estas mujeres denunciaron que los agentes las detuvieron por participar
en los disturbios y que en los vehículos donde eran trasladadas a un
penal sufrieron violencia sexual, física y verbal.
|
|
Una de las denunciantes, Italia Méndez, escribió una carta en el quinto
aniversario del operativo en Atenco: "La tortura sexual ejercida contra
nosotras las mujeres en los operativos fue un hecho difícil de afrontar
y denunciar, dimensionar tal violencia contra nuestros cuerpos nos
resultaba desbordante, sin embargo, el mantenernos juntas y enfrentar al
Estado de forma colectiva nos permitió afrontar y desmontar el discurso
del poder en el cual nosotras debíamos sentir vergüenza y no podíamos
hacer nada con lo ocurrido”.
|
|
En julio de 2010, la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN)
ordenó la liberación de 12 integrantes del Frente de Pueblos en Defensa
de la Tierra (FPDT), que estaban sentenciados a penas de entre 31 y 112
años de cárcel por el delito de secuestro equiparado tras haber
participado en la protesta.
|
|
Un año antes, la Corte dictaminó que los policías que fueron parte del
operativo cometieron graves violaciones a las garantías individuales.
Hasta ahora, sólo uno ha sido consignado por actos libidinosos, pero no
fue encarcelado.
|
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La SCJN también deslindó responsabilidad al expresidente Vicente Fox y
al exgobernador del Estado de México, Enrique Peña Nieto.
|
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El exmandatario estatal dijo en 2008 que volvería a ordenar un operativo
similar en caso de que fuera necesario restablecer el orden y la paz
social. Sin embargo, un año después, reconoció que en el caso existe un
“alto grado de impunidad” en cuanto a violaciones y abusos cometidos por
los 2,500 policías que participaron, pero dijo que era “prácticamente
imposible saber quién las cometió”.
|
|
Cinco años después de haber avalado el operativo, Enrique Peña Nieto es
el político mexicano mejor posicionado en las encuestas para los
comicios presidenciales de 2012.
|
|
International Commission will investigate the case of 11 Mexican women
who charge sexual torture [at the hands of police]
|
|
The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) has decided
to investigate
rape complaints filed by a group of women in regard to a police
operation that occurred in the city of San Salvador de Atenco in 2006.
|
|
According to documentation assembled by nongovernmental organizations,
at least 26 women were raped at the time of the incident. Eleven of those victims have
pursued the case that will be considered by the IACHR.
|
|
During its 143rd regular session, the Commission issued a report to
begin investigating
petition 512-08 - Mariana Selvas Gómez et al.,
Mexico, filed in April 2008 on allegations that justice was not served
because officials failed to investigate the case.
|
|
"Neither the [federal] Special Prosecutor for Violent Crimes Against
Women and Trafficking in Persons (FEVIMTRA) nor the Attorney General of
the State of Mexico (PGJEM) conducted an adequate investigation, and
none of the more than 2,500 police officers involved [in the operation]
has been penalized,” declared a spokesperson for the Miguel Agustín Pro
Juárez Human Rights Center (PRODH Center), which provides legal
representation for the complainants.
|
|
The Commission will now investigate whether the Mexican government
committed human rights violations and will publish its conclusions after
the complainants and the Mexican government are notified about them.
|
|
The population of San Salvador Atenco had mobilized in February, and
then in May of 2006
in protest against the expropriation of land within the city that was to
be used for the construction of a new international airport. The protest
led to a confrontation and a response by more than 2,500 federal, state
and local police officers. Two people died and 207 were arrested.
|
|
Civil society organizations such as the PRODH Center reported that during the
operation, which took place between May 3rd and 4th
of
2006, at least 26 women were subjected to sexual torture. Eleven of those
victims joined to bring the IACHR complaint.
|
|
The women reported that officers had arrested them for participating in
the disturbances, and that they were sexually, physically and verbally
assaulted on the buses that transported them to jail.
|
|
One of the complainants, Italia Méndez, wrote a letter on the fifth
anniversary of the operation in Atenco and stated: "The sexual torture
that was perpetrated against us as women was hard to face and denounce -
such violence [against] our bodies was overwhelming. Nonetheless, by
staying together and by confronting the state collectively, we were able
to dismantle the discourse that was [publicized] by those in power, a
discourse that said that we should feel ashamed and that we could not do
anything about what had happened."
|
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In July 2010, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) ordered the release of
12 members of the Peoples' Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), who had
been sentenced to between 31 and 112 years in prison for the crime of
kidnapping after participating in the protest.
|
|
A year earlier, the Court ruled that the police officers who were part
of the operation committed serious violations of individual rights. So
far, only one officer has been prosecuted for lewd acts. He was not
jailed.
|
|
The supreme court also exonerated [former] president Vicente Fox and the
former governor of Mexico state, Enrique Peña Nieto in regard to the
case.
|
|
Peña Nieto said in 2008 that he would have ordered a similar operation
again in the event that it become necessary to restore order and social
peace. A year later, Peña Nieto acknowledged that there was a "high
degree of impunity" in regard to the violations and abuses committed by the
2,500 police officers involved, but said it was "practically impossible
to know who committed those acts".
|
|
Five years after having [ordered and] supported the operation, Enrique
Peña Nieto holds the top position in polls leading up to the 2012
presidential race.
|
|
Tania L. Montalvo
|
|
CNNMéxico
|
|
Nov. 09, 2011
|
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See also:
|
|
Added: Nov. 14, 2011
|
|
Mexico
|
|
Raped, Beaten, Never Forgotten
|
|
When the women left their homes that May morning in 2006, they never
imagined the horrific experience that lay ahead of them.
|
|
During a police operation in response to protests by a local peasant
organization in San Salvador Atenco, more than 45 women were arrested
without explanation. Dozens of them were subjected to physical,
psychological and sexual violence by the police officers who arrested
them.
|
|
In the case of one of the women, police officers pulled her hair, beat
her, and forced her into a state police vehicle with her shirt pulled
over her head. She was made to lie on top of other detainees, and during
the journey to the prison, police officers sexually assaulted her
repeatedly.
|
|
Once at the "Santiaguito" prison near Toluca in Mexico State, the prison
doctors who examined many of the women failed to document all their
physical injuries or to gather evidence of the sexual abuse they had
suffered.
|
|
More than four years later, these brave survivors are still waiting for
justice.
|
|
None of the officials responsible for their abuse have been held
accountable. Federal authorities had conducted an investigation that
resulted in a list of 34 names of police officers who were suspected of
being responsible for the abuses, but the federal authorities concluded
that these individuals should be prosecuted at the state level.
|
|
Almost no progress has been made in over a year. Now is the time to push
for real justice and remind the federal government of Mexico that it has
the ultimate responsibility to protect the human rights of its citizens,
and not to let this impunity continue...
|
|
Amnesty International
|
|
2011
|
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See Also:
|
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LibertadLatina
|
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Special Section
|
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Atenco
|
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|
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Mexican Police
Rape and Assault
47
Women at
Street Protest
|
|
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Added: Nov. 14, 2011
|
|
Mexico
|
|
|
|
Lydia Cacho
|
|
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Detectan 17 casos de trata en la Riviera Maya
|
|
Ante los hechos de explotación sexual se realizará una marcha pacífica
el próximo 12 de noviembre en la zona turística de Cancún
|
|
El Centro Integral de Atención a la Mujer Maltratada (CIAM-Cancún)
documenta los casos de al menos 17 menores de edad, víctimas de una red
de tratantes de personas en la Riviera Maya, quienes vivían
originalmente en situación de calle y fueron captadas por tratantes que
las "engancharon" en el turismo sexual, comerciándolas sexualmente para
el consumo de turistas canadienses, italianos y norteamericanos,
principalmente.
|
|
La organización, que brinda asesoría psicológica, emocional, jurídica y
alberga a mujeres víctimas de violencia, conocieron de los casos como
parte de la campaña "Yo no estoy en venta" que iniciaron en mayo pasado
para prevenir y combatir el delito de la Trata de Personas en sus
diversas modalidades, enfocada a adolescentes y jóvenes a quienes se
dota de herramientas para detectar el fenómeno, reconocer los signos de
alerta y, en su caso, denunciarlos a personas de su confianza.
|
|
Como parte de dicha campaña se realizará una marcha pacífica el próximo
12 de noviembre en la zona turística de Cancún para lanzar como mensaje
al turismo y a la industria de que Cancún es paraíso, pero no para el
turismo sexual y que la niñez en Quintana Roo, no está en venta, anunció
este martes la presidenta del CIAM-Cancún, Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.
|
|
La activista reveló datos
preliminares sobre los casos detectados y el estudio que han conformado
para dibujar el perfil de los tratantes de personas que operan en Cancún
y en Playa del Carmen -municipios de Benito Juárez y Solidaridad- en
donde estas mafias que explotan comercialmente a menores de edad son
protegidas por cárteles de la droga, específicamente por Los Zetas y los
"Pelones".
|
|
Del grupo de 17 víctimas halladas por CIAM, Cacho Ribeiro dijo que sus
edades oscilan entre los 13 y 16 años, que provienen de diferentes
entidades de la República Mexicana y que su común denominador estriba en
que la violencia doméstica que sufrieron en el hogar las hizo huir y
encontrar refugio en las calles…
|
|
"Esta modalidad de víctimas de Trata, que se encuentran en situación de
calle está cobrando importancia en Cancún y Riviera Maya. Hemos sabido
por testimonios de las propias víctimas que mantienen relaciones
sexuales con policías, comerciantes, taxistas y chavos de calle a cambio
de comida, protección, favores o drogas y no exclusivamente por dinero.
|
|
"Luego son captadas por sujetos a los que ubican como ‘valedores' que
primero las protegen, con quienes entablan un vínculo emocional muy
fuerte, y quienes terminan explotándolas sexualmente o entregándolas a
tratantes profesionales", expresó.
|
|
Estos ‘valedores' operan particularmente en la famosa Quintana Avenida,
localizada en Playa del Carmen y en playas aledañas a la zona. Y en
Cancún, en el Parque de las Palapas y en la zona de bares de la avenida
López Portillo.
|
|
La agrupación ha dividido en
tres al tipo de víctimas de Trata, detectados en Quintana Roo, durante
la campaña "Yo no estoy en Venta":
|
|
Infantes y adolescentes que viven con sus familias y son explotadas en
niveles socieconómicos altos, por amigos de la escuela y propietarios de
bares; quienes se reportan como desaparecidos o que huyeron de sus casas
y terminan dentro de una red local o internacional de Trata; y quienes
son traídas al estado por tratantes que manejan las rutas de tráfico de
migrantes indocumentados, principalmente de países como Guatemala, El
Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica y Paraguay.
|
|
Activists detect 17 cases of minor sex trafficking at Mexico’s Riviera
Maya resort
|
|
Given the facts of sexual exploitation, a peaceful march is planned for
November 12th in the resort city of Cancun
|
|
The Comprehensive Care Centre for Abused Women (CIAM-Cancún) has
announced that it has documented the cases of at least 17 underage
victims of sex trafficking networks in the Riviera Maya resort area. The
victims were homeless children who had been entrapped by a network of
traffickers who prostituted them for the consumption of sex tourists who
are principally from Canada, Italy and the United States.
|
|
CIAM, which provides emotional, psychological, legal and housing
assistance for women victims of violence, raised awareness of the 17
victims as part of its "I am not for sale" campaign. The effort began
last May to prevent and combat the crime of human trafficking in its
diverse forms. The campaign is aimed at teenagers and young adults who
will be educated to detect the phenomenon, to recognize the warning
signs and, where appropriate, report them to people they trust.
|
|
CIAM is organizing a peaceful march for November 12th in the resort city
of Cancun to launch its message to the tourism industry that Cancun is
a paradise, but not for sex tourism, and to declare that the children of
the state of Quintana Roo are not for sale, announced CIAM-Cancún’s
president, [journalist and activist] Lydia Cacho Ribeiro.
|
|
Cacho Ribeiro discussed preliminary data in regard to the cases detected
as well as deails about a study that CIAM has developed to determine
the profile of the human traffickers that are operating in Cancun and
Playa del Carmen - where the gangs who engage in the commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC) are protected by the drug cartels, and
specifically Los Zetas and the "Pelones."
|
|
According to Cacho Ribeiro, the ages of the 17 victims found by CIAM are
between 13 and 16. They come from across Mexico. Their common
denominator is that they all suffered domestic violence at home that
drove them onto the streets.
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|
"This type of victims of trafficking, who may be found to be living on
the streets, is becoming increasingly important in Cancun and Riviera
Maya. We have testimony from the victims who have declared that the have
sex with policemen, shopkeepers, taxi drivers and street kids in
exchange for food, protection, favors or drugs. It is not always an
exchange of money that is involved.
|
|
"Later, they are captured by subjects who pose as benefactors, who
protect them, and with whom they have a strong emotional bond, These
subjects end up exploiting the victim sexually, or they hand
the girl
over to professional traffickers,” said Cacho Ribeiro.
|
|
These 'protectors' are especially active in the famous Avenida Quintana
in Playa del Carmen, and along the beaches surrounding the area. In
Cancun, they operate in the Parque de las Palapas and in the bars along
the Avenida Lopez Portillo.
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|
CIAM has categorized three types of victims of who have been detected in
Quintana Roo state during the I am not for Sale campaign: 1) children and
adolescents who are living with their families, who are exploited by
school friends and bar owners; 2) youth who are reported as missing or
who fled their homes and end up in a local or international [sex] trafficking
network; and 3) victims who are brought into the state by traffickers
who operate human smuggling routes that transport undocumented migrants
who are principally from the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Paraguay.
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Adriana Varillas
|
|
El Universal
|
|
Nov. 08, 2011
|
|
|
Added: Nov. 06, 2011
|
|
Latin America
|
|
The Rise
of Femicide and Women in Drug
Trafficking
|
|
While men have predominantly run drug
trafficking organizations (DTOs),
women have participated in them since
the 1920s. Their role may have
appeared miniscule compared to that
of their male counterparts, but they
have played key roles such as drug
mules and bosses…
|
|
Indirect
Effects of Drug Trafficking
|
|
Government
crackdowns on drug cartels not only
affect women directly, impacting
those who may be working as bosses
or mules, but also indirectly
through a resulting increase [in]
prostitution and sex trafficking.
These industries present an
alternative when governments place
heightened scrutiny on DTOs.
According to the International
Organization for Migration, sex
trafficking alone can produce USD 16
billion a year in revenue in Latin
America. With such high profits,
they are obvious choices to mobilize
in the midst of increased government
control…
|
|
Femicide
Emerges
|
|
The rise [in] the number of women in
prisons and the surge in their crime
rates are symptoms of a prominent
issue in Latin America, known as
femicide. Femicide refers to the
mass killings of women, and reflects
the excessive masculinity that is
associated with the drug industry…
[Drug crime is just one of many
causes of femicide in the region.]
Drug trafficking seems to heighten
the attitude that women are…
disposable... Although femicide
remains an issue for all of Latin
America, it has a greater presence
in parts of Central America. For
example, the [number] of murdered
women has tripled in four years,
from 2005-2009, in many Mexican
states from 3.7 to 11.1 per 100,000…
María
Virginia Díaz Méndez, of the Center
of Women’s Studies in Honduras,
states that, “Honduras comes in
second to Guatemala for the highest
femicide rate”. Despite growing
[rates of] femicide throughout the
region, it appears as though there
are little to no consequences for
committing such crimes…
|
|
Andrea Mares
|
|
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
|
|
October 28, 2011
|
|
See also:
|
|
Added: Nov. 06, 2011
|
|
Latin America
|
|
Sex
Trafficking Now A $16 Billion
Business In Latin America
|
|
The trafficking of women and girls
for purposes of sexual exploitation
has become a $16-billion-a-year
business in Latin America, according
to figures from the International
Organization for Migration.
|
|
That amount "is almost half of what
is calculated is generated
worldwide" by sex trafficking, said
IOM's director for the Southern
Cone, Eugenio Ambrosi, in an
interview published Wednesday in the
Buenos Aires daily Pagina/12.
|
|
Prostitution, he said, "is vying for
second place with weapons
trafficking as the illegal business
that moves the most money after drug
trafficking."
|
|
Ambrosi lamented the fact that
trafficking in women has "the
advantage ... (that) the logistical
and investment (costs) are much
lower" than in other illicit
businesses, and he added that
"there's a connection" between drug
trafficking and people trafficking.
|
|
"Sometimes the victims ... are
recruited to traffic drugs," he
said.
|
|
"There's a very well organized
network, with the capacity to
recruit and use women everywhere to
satisfy the requirements of the
market," said Ambrosi, adding that
"something has to be done to go
after the customers…"
|
|
WUNRN
|
|
Dec. 02, 2008
|
|
|
Added: Nov. 06, 2011
|
|
Remarks by Mexican anti-trafficking
leader Teresa Ulloa during her
acceptance of the 2011 Gleitsman
International Activist Award at the
Center for Public Leadership at
the Harvard Kennedy School
|
|
Mexico / Massachusetts, USA
|
|
|
|
Programme from
the 2011 Gleitsman
International Activist Award
ceremony
|
|
|
Palabras
De Teresa Ulloa al aceptar El Premio
Gleitsman 2011 al Activismo Social
Internacional
|
|
Buenas noches, quiero agradecer a
los miembros del Jurado y al Centro
para el Liderazgo Público de la
Escuela Kennedy de la Universidad de
Harvard por otorgarme el Premio
Gleitsman 2011 al Activismo Social
Internacional. También quiero
agradecer a cada una de las que me
nominaron, Corey, Norma, Dorchen y
Jan, todas ellas compañeras en
nuestra lucha y en la
CATW-Internacional, por confiar en
mí y por todo el trabajo que esta
nominación les representó.
|
|
Soy madre de una joven de 21 años,
que ha sido mi motivación y mayor
impulse para que haya dedicado mi
trabajo a contribuir a poner fin a
todas las formas de violencia contra
las mujeres, incluyendo la
sobre-sexualización y la explotación
sexual comercial de mujeres y niñas.
Yo sueño con que mi trabajo
contribuya para desarraigar la
normalización y la aceptación
cultural de la violencia contra las
mujeres para crear un mejor mundo
para todas ellas en todo el mundo.
|
|
He dedicado mi vida a luchar por los
derechos humanos, especialmente a
luchar contra la violencia hacia las
mujeres y las niñas, y, desde hace
veinte años, a combatir la trata de
mujeres, niñas y niños para la
explotación sexual. Durante 40 años,
he trabajado para empoderar y
defender a las mujeres para que
logren el acceso a sus derechos y he
representado a innumerables víctimas
de violencia sexual.
|
|
A menudo, he trabajado con un alto
riesgo personal y el de mi familia,
para erradicar la trata a lo largo
de América Latina y el Caribe,
especialmente en México, donde los
cárteles de las drogas ahora son los
actores principales de este delito.
|
|
En mi trabajo, he incluído un
enfoque holístico para crear las
condiciones legales, políticas y
sociales que permitan erradicar la
trata de personas. Uso mi
conocimiento y experiencia para
diseñar y poner en práctica campañas
y modelos de capacitación
innovadores para la prevención, la
protección y asistencia de las
víctimas, y para la persecución de
los tratantes y explotadores, para
capacitar a los agentes
institucionales encargados de hacer
respetar las leyes y para educar a
los jóvenes, entre otros.
|
|
Inspirada por nuestras Compañeras de
CATW-AP, diseñé un modelo dirigido a
hombres jóvenes para reducir la
demanda de sexo de paga. Este modelo
es el primero en su tipo para educar
a hombres jóvenes y niños sobre la
construcción de la masculinidad
tradicional y las consecuencias de
la demanda en el sexo de paga, que
además promueve una concepción
alternativa de la sexualidad
masculina basada en la igualdad de
derechos humanos. Este modelo se ha
aplicado en México, Argentina,
Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Perú,
Panamá, Chile, Colombia y la
República Dominicana.
|
|
Hoy, contamos con una red de cerca
de 400 organizaciones en 25 países
en la Región de Latinoamérica y el
Caribe, donde el avance del crimen
organizado y la trata de personas es
alarmante y la corrupción de las
instituciones gubernamentales y los
responsables de hacer respetar la
Ley es una constante. Cientos de
mujeres, niñas y niños se reportan
como desaparecidos y vivimos
continuamente con miedo. A través de
nuestro trabajo hemos rescatado más
de 899 mujeres, niñas y niños de la
trata interna e internacional con
propósitos de explotación sexual, a
través del Sistema Alerta Roja que
fundamos y operamos hace cinco años.
|
|
Sin embargo, todavia enfrentamos
muchos retos inmensos, que pueden
resumirse en:
|
|
La guerra y toda la violencia que
ella involucra contra las mujeres y
las niñas, en las actividades
militares y paramilitares:
violación, violencia sexual,
desplazamiento, muerte, hambre, el
abuso de poder al humillar a las
madres, esposas, hijas y hermanas de
los derrotados, los abusos sexuales
y la prostitución que promueven e
imponen los grupos armados, tanto
los regulares como los irregulares.
Queremos la paz sobre los intereses
económicos y políticos. Queremos el
imperio de la ley y de los derechos
humanos.
|
|
La discriminación de género, esa
discriminación que mata a miles de
niñas aún antes de que hayan nacido,
o aún cuando ya nacieron son
condenadas a la falta de
oportunidades, a la violencia de
género, a la explotación, a la mala
nutrición, a la marginación, a la
desigualdad, y a prácticas
tradicionales perjudiciales para sus
cuerpos y a su dignidad humana, como
el pago de las novias.
|
|
La pobreza y la extrema pobreza. La
feminización de la pobreza se ha
convertido en testigo de la
injusticia para un poco más de la
mitad de la población mundial.
Urgimos su abolición.
|
|
La violencia de género, esa
violencia que se ejerce contra las
mujeres y las niñas en los ámbitos
públicos y privados, en todas
partes. Las muejres y las niñas son
violadas cada día en sus hogares,
donde deberían tener garantizados
sus derechos a la vida, la su
integridad personal y a su
seguridad. Las mujeres y las niñas
son asesinadas cada día en medio de
la más absoluta impunidad. La
seguridad colectiva nunca será
posible si no se puede garantizar la
seguridad y la integridad de las
mujeres y las niñas.
|
|
Tenemos el derecho de ser una
prioridad en la agenda internacional
de cooperación, en los esfuerzos
para el desarrollo, y en la lucha
contra la pobreza, en los desastres
naturals, en la educación, en la
salud, en la protección de nuestros
derechos humanos, pero también en
los temas de seguridad nacional, en
la guerra y en la paz, en los
esfuerzos contra el terrorismo, y en
la lucha contra el crimen
organizado...
|
|
El Transcrito Completo
|
|
See also: English translation
|
|
Teresa
Ulloa speaks at the 2011 Gleitsman
Award for International Social
Activism
|
|
Good evening. I want to thank the
members of the jury and the Center
for Public Leadership at the Kennedy
School at Harvard University for
having awarded me the 2011 Gleitsman
Award for International Social
Activism. I also want to thank those
who nominated me, [Coalition Against
Trafficking (CATW) in Women
Executive Director] Norma [Ramos],
Corey, Dorchen and Jan, as well as
all of the sisters who are all
partners in our struggle at the
International CATW, for trusting me
and for all the work that this
nomination represents for them.
|
|
I am the mother of a 21-year-old
young woman, who has been the
greatest motivation causing me to
dedicate my work to helping to put
an end to all forms of violence
against women, including the
over-sexualization and commercial
sexual exploitation of women and
girls. I dream that my work
contributes to uprooting the
standardization and cultural
acceptance of violence against
women, resulting in a better world
for all women across the world.
|
|
I have dedicated my life to fighting
for human rights, especially to
combat violence against women and
girls, and, for twenty y ears, to
combating the trafficking of women
and children for sexual
exploitation. For 40 years I have
worked to empower and advocate for
women to allow them access to their
rights. I have represented
innumerable victims of sexual
violence.
|
|
Often, I have worked at high
personal risk to myself and my
family to eradicate trafficking
throughout Latin America and the
Caribbean, and especially in Mexico,
where drug cartels are now the main
actors in this crime.
|
|
I have included a holistic approach
in my work to create the legal,
political and social conditions that
will allow for the eradication of
human trafficking. Use my knowledge
and experience to design and
implement campaigns and innovative
training models for prevention,
protection and assistance for
victims, for the prosecution of
traffickers and exploiters, to train
the institutional actors responsible
for enforcing the laws and to
educate young people, among other
[activities].
|
|
Inspired by our sisters at the CATW,
I designed a model aimed at young
men to reduce the demand for paid
sex. This model is the first of its
kind to educate young men and boys
[that addresses] the construction of
traditional masculinity and the
impact of demand on paid sex. [The
approach] promotes an alternative
conception of male sexuality based
on and equality of [gender related]
human rights. This model has been
applied in Mexico, Argentina,
Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru,
Panama, Chile, Colombia and the
Dominican Republic.
|
|
Today, we have a network of nearly
400 organizations working in 25
countries in the Latin America and
the Caribbean, where the growth of
organized crime and human
trafficking is alarming and where
the corruption of government
institutions and those responsible
for enforcing Law is a constant
factor. Hundreds of women and
children are reported as missing and
we live in state of continuously
fear. Through the Red Alert system
that started
five
years ago, we have rescued more than
899 women and children victims of
domestic and international
trafficking for purposes of sexual
exploitation.
|
|
Nonetheless, we still face many
enormous challenges, when can be
summariezed as follows:
|
|
* Wars and all of the violence that
they create against women and girls,
in activities of military and
paramilitary groups: rape, sexual
violence, displacement, death,
hunger, abuse of power used to
humiliate the mothers, wives,
daughters and sisters of the
defeated, and the sexual abuse and
prostitution that is imposed by both
regular and irregular armed groups.
We want peace to prevail over
economic and political interests. We
want the rule of law and human
rights.
|
|
* Gender discrimination, which kills
thousands of girls even before they
are born, or that which, after they
are born condemns them to a lack of
opportunities, gender violence,
exploitation, poor nutrition,
marginalization, inequality, and
traditional practices that are
harmful to their bodies and to their
human dignity, such as payments for
brides.
|
|
* Poverty and extreme poverty. The
feminization of poverty has borne
witness to the injustices faced by a
little over half the world’s
population. We urge its abolition.
|
|
* Gender-based violence - violence
perpetrated against women and girls
in public and private spaces,
everywhere. Women and girls are
raped ev ery day in their own homes,
where they should be guaranteed
their rights to life, personal
integrity and security. Women and
girls are murdered every day in an
environment of the most absolute
impunity. Collective security will
never be possible if we can not
guarantee the security and integrity
of women and girls.
|
|
We have the right to be a priority
on the international agenda for
cooperation, in development efforts,
and in the fight against poverty, in
[relief efforts in regard to]
natural disasters, in education, in
healthcare, in the protection of our
human rights, as well as in regard
to national security issues, in war
and peace, in the efforts against
terrorism and in combating organized
crime...
|
|
Full
Transcript
|
|
Teresa Ulloa at Harvard University
|
|
Posted by Fundacion CEDAI-Centro de
Asistencia Integral
|
|
Nov. 01, 2011
|
|
|
Added: Nov. 06, 2011
|
|
Pop star Ricky Martin calls for the
end of child trafficking
|
|
El Mundo / The World
|
|
|
|
Ricky Martin |
|
|
Opinión:
Detengan el flagelo de la trata
infantil, pide Ricky Martin
|
|
Mi compromiso con la causa de
detener la explotación infantil
nació por una experiencia que me
hizo poner los pies en la tierra. En
2002, fui testigo de los horrores de
la trata de personas cuando
rescatamos a tres niñas temblorosas
que vivían en las calles pobres de
India. Prevenir que estas niñas
fueran víctimas de este horrendo
crimen fue un despertar personal.
|
|
Agradezco a la iniciativa Héroes de
CNN por permitir que Ricky Martin
Foundation comparta con otras
personas y las involucre en nuestro
compromiso por terminar con la
explotación de los niños por medio
de la trata de personas y la
esclavitud en el mundo moderno.
|
|
Eso fue hace más de una década.
Desde entonces, supe que mi
fundación debería arrojar una luz
sobre este tema tabú. La educación
ha sido nuestro pilar desde el
principio. En 2003, lanzamos People
for Children, nuestro proyecto
principal, para proporcionar
educación y soluciones a los
esfuerzos internacionales para
eliminar la trata infantil.
|
|
Este mercado sin escrúpulos —que
consiste en 27 millones de víctimas
en todo el mundo, de acuerdo con el
Informe de la Trata de Personas de
2011— genera hasta 32,000 millones
de dólares al año, una cantidad que
rivaliza con el tráfico de armas y
el narcotráfico. De estos 27
millones, la Unicef estima que cada
año 1.2 millones son niños que son
víctimas de la trata de personas
para trabajar como de mano de obra
forzada, en la industria del
comercio sexual, en la prostitución
y en otras formas de esclavitud.
|
|
Las estadísticas son impactantes.
Muchos las cuestionan porque los
crímenes se ocultan. Pero las cifras
no importan: prevenir la trata de
uno o de 200 niños le da validez a
nuestra misión.
|
|
Nadie debe ser explotado o privado
de su libertad...
|
|
Stop
the scourge of child trafficking
|
|
My commitment to the cause of
stopping the exploitation of
children was born from a humbling
experience. In 2002, I witnessed the
horrors of human trafficking as we
rescued three trembling girls living
on the impoverished streets of
India. Preventing these girls from
falling prey to this horrendous
crime was a personal awakening.
|
|
I thank CNN's Heroes initiative for
allowing the Ricky Martin Foundation
to share and engage others in our
commitment to end the exploitation
of children by human trafficking and
modern-day slavery.
|
|
That was more than a decade ago.
Since then, I knew my foundation
must shed a light on this taboo
subject. Education has been our
pillar from the outset. In 2004, we
launched People for Children, our
principal project, to provide
education and solutions for
international efforts to eliminate
child trafficking.
|
|
This unscrupulous market -- which
consists of 27 million victims
worldwide, according to the 2011
Trafficking in Persons Report --
generates up to $32 billion
annually, an amount rivaling that of
the trafficking of arms and drugs.
Of the 27 million, UNICEF estimates
that 1.2 million are children who
are trafficked every year to work as
forced labor, in the commercial sex
industry, in prostitution and in
other forms of slavery.
|
|
The statistics are staggering. Many
contest them because the crimes are
hidden. But numbers don't matter:
Preventing one or 200 children from
traffickers validates our mission.
|
|
No one should be exploited and
deprived of his or her freedom...
|
|
Ricky Martin
|
|
Special to CNN
|
|
Nov. 03, 2011
|
| | |
/ Welcome
