Panamá

En Panamá están registradas unas ocho mil personas con el Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (SIDA), aunque la cifra real podría ascender hasta 20 mil, revelaron hoy autoridades de salud.

Panamá has 8,000 registered persons with HIV or AIDS.  Activists estimate that there are 20,000 carriers, may of whom are not aware that they are HIV Positive.

Darfur, Sudan

Help Us Stop the Killing in Darfur!

The conflict in Darfur has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and wide-scale murder, rape, torture, abduction and displacement.

- SaveDarfur.org

Dollars for Darfur is a national high school fundraising effort to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

- SaveDarfur.org

Guatemala, United States

 The killings of women and girls in Guatemala are rising at an alarming rate yet actions by the Guatemalan government to bring those responsible to justice are insufficient. A U.S. House Resolution condemning these brutal killings has been introduced... urging both the United States and Guatemalan Governments to do more to bring an end to this human rights scandal (H.RES.1081). Urge your Representative to sign on to this important resolution. Take action »

- Amnesty International
11-23-2006

See also:

Added Nov. 24, 2006

Background information on the murders of women in Guatemala

- Amnesty International
11-23-2006

- Amnesty International

See also:

LibertadLatina's special section on the crisis in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - about the mass rape and murder of women and girls.

Mexico

Young Latina Women Changing the Face of U.S. Politics

With more young Latinos coming of voting age than ever before, young Latina women, like Mireya Gomez, who ran for a city council seat in her hometown, are trying to making inroads in what has traditionally been a landscape dominated by men.

- Daffodil Altan
Nov 08, 2006

Liora Kasten and Jesse Sage, former directors of the American Anti-Slavery Group, edit a collection of modern day slave narratives entitled, Enslaved: True Stories of Modern Slavery, published by Palgrave Macmillian.

- iAbolish.org
Nov 08, 2006

Added Nov. 16, 2006

North Carolina, USA

Candidate Elected as Sheriff Despite Facing Rape Charges

- New York Times Regional Newspapers

Nov ember 13, 2006 

Added November 14, 2006

Guatemala

Over 400 Women Murdered So Far This Year in Guatemala

Guatemalan human rights organizations are expressing concern over the wave of femicides in Guatemala, which has claimed over 400 victims so far this year. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the murders of women in Guatemala City increased during the month of September. The number rose from eleven murders in July, to sixteen in August, to seventeen as of September 27. Congressional representative Nineth Montenegro has noted that the murders of women, along with those of children and adolescents, have increased in Guatemala as never before. The majority of the murders were committed in the capital city, as well as Escuintla and Petén.

Montenegro noted that, of the 322 femicide cases reported from January to August, only twelve were being investigated at the time of her report and only two suspects connected to one murder are currently in prison. She listed a misogynous attitude toward women, the increasing involvement of women in the public sphere, and rising gang activity and organized crime as factors in the rise in femicides. As women become more active in the economy, politics, and education, they become more vulnerable and some also get involved in gangs and organized crime. Montenegro emphasized that participation in criminal activity does not justify the women’s deaths. She said the lack of response on the part of the authorities in cases involving women was also a factor, adding that the justice system is inefficient and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) fails to carry out the necessary investigations.

Mario Polanco, an activist with the Mutual Support Group (GAM), said that this crisis reveals serious institutional weaknesses. In Guatemala there is no security policy for the general population. Polanco said the population is in a position of extreme vulnerability and women are particularly affected because the government lacks the will to guarantee their security much less investigate crimes committed against them. Polanco disagreed with official statements claiming that the investigation process has improved. According to Polanco, monitoring in the courts has shown that there has been absolutely no improvement.

Human rights activists continue to be concerned that the number of women murdered this year will surpass last year’s total.

- Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
October 26, 2006

Added November 13, 2006

Latin America

¿Cuántos niños latinoamericanos son explotados sexualmente?

BOGOTA, Nov. 9 (Prensa Sur). No se conoce cuántos niños y niñas están envueltos en las redes de explotación sexual que operan en América Latina, pero las señas de esta actividad que aparecen frecuentemente en muchas ciudades de la región, hacen temer un alevoso crecimiento del delito.

Según estimados de la Fundación “Renacer” de Colombia, sólo en Brasil unos 600.000 niños y niñas estarían siendo explotados sexualmente, en República Dominicana la cifra aproximada sería de unos 25.000 niños y niñas dedicados a la prostitución, y en Venezuela habría unos 40.000 niños en esa actividad.

...Diversas investigaciones han planteado la necesidad de abordar el problema con enfoques que vayan más allá de considerar a los niños como víctimas, asumiéndolos como sujetos de procesos integrales, que actúan por encima de sus condiciones particulares.

...Las prácticas de abuso sexual infantil son reforzadas por la ausencia de políticas de protección especial para menores y por la vigencia de paradigmas que asocian “sexualidad con juventud”, legitimando las relaciones sexuales entre jóvenes y adultos y hasta otorgándoles cierta “aceptación social”, sostiene Renacer.
 

- Prensa Sur

Co;ombia

November 9, 2006

- Associated Press
November 9, 2006
 

Added November 11, 2006

Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico - Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Erika Feller has said Mexico faces a major challenge protecting refugees as the country becomes more important as a migration route to North America.

...Noting that there was now a mass exodus of migrants from Central America through Mexico towards the United States and Canada, Feller said: "The pressure this entails puts the humanitarian principle of refugee protection in danger." She added that Mexico had a significant role to play in fulfilling its obligations to vulnerable refugees caught up in mixed migration movements, particularly in the southern border area.

...Among the refugees she met were unaccompanied minors and women, who are regarded as particularly vulnerable. "I only know that I want to stay in a safe place, I cannot go back to my country. I want to study. And I want my mother to come and be with me," a teenage girl, who was a victim of sex trafficking and may be in need of international protection, told Feller.

Some 250,000 undocumented migrants were deported from Tapachula to their respective Central American countries last year alone. "Migrants are determined to reach the US. They are even willing to give up their lives in the attempt. Some have tried up to 16 times," said an official from Mexico's Beta Group, which provides medical care, information and rescue operations for undocumented migrants...

- Reuters AlertNet
November 10, 2006

Added November 11, 2006

Colorado, USA

Hit-and-run driver hits stroller; mom, 2 kids killed

Denver - A hit-and-run driver struck a couple crossing a street with a stroller, killing a woman and her two young children and injuring the youngsters' father, police said.

...Lawrence Trujillo, 36, was arrested on three counts of investigation of vehicular homicide, as well as leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest, police said. Eric Phil Snell, 35, was arrested on three counts of investigation of accessory to a crime.

- CNN
November 11, 2006

Added November 11, 2006

New York, USA

Ex-teacher pleads guilty to sex crime

Five days after his statutory rape trial ended with a hung jury, former North Babylon High School teacher Danny Cuesta admitted in court yesterday that he had sex with an underaged student.

Prosecutors also revealed in court that two other girls have come forward, saying Cuesta had sex with them.

With his accuser watching from the court gallery, Danny Cuesta, 30, of Coram, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree rape, two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act and one count of endangering the welfare of the child. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors recommended a sentence of 15 months in jail. Suffolk County Court Judge C. Randall Hinrichs will sentence him Jan. 4.

...Yesterday, Cuesta rubbed his face, bit his lip, and occasionally shook his head as he admitted - with short answers of "Yes" - to a two-year sexual relationship with the girl.

Prosecutors also said that as part of the plea deal, they would drop a pending investigation into charges by two other girls that Cuesta had sex with them.

...Upon hearing Cuesta say "guilty" in entering his plea, the girl began quietly weeping in court. Her father braced her head on his shoulder and later said he was proud of his daughter for standing up to Cuesta.

"We knew he was guilty from the start," the girl's father said. "I guess the walls closed in on him."

- Alfonso Castillo
New York Newsday
October 28, 2006

Mom's rape trial testimony appears to waver

Groping victim steps forward

The latest victim has come forward in what is believed by Fairfax County, Virginia Police to be a related series of assaults.

During the investigation of an assault that occurred Oct. 25 near the Circle Towers apartments in Fairfax, a 50-year-old Fairfax woman told police she had also been assaulted the same day.

This latest victim was waiting for an elevator Oct. 25 at 11 p.m. in the basement of Tower 3 of the Circle Towers apartments when a man approached her from behind and touched her inappropriately. According to police, the suspect then tried to take her purse but ran away when she resisted.

Prior to this latest victim's revelation, police had been investigating a similar incident, believed to be connected, that occurred at Circle Towers around 1:30 p.m. That victim, a 27-year-old woman, was approached from behind by a man who tried to pull down her pants but fled when she screamed.

The earlier victim described her attacker as a 5 foot 7 inch Hispanic man weighing around 150 pounds with black hair, long on top but shaved in the back.

In the last three months, five other women have been assaulted in similar fashion.

Like these latest incidents, three of the earlier attacks occurred in August near the Vienna Metro. Other similar attacks occurred in September in the Fair Lakes area.

In each case, an Hispanic man approached a lone female from behind and attempted to pull down her pants or touch her inappropriately. In each attack, the assailant fled when the women began screaming.

This latest incident is the first where the attacker has tried to rob his victim. Since the first group of incidents, police have been concerned that the attacker could become more violent if not apprehended.

A composite sketch has been provided, and anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477 or Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.

- Monty Tayloe

Fairfax County Times
11/07/2006

- Notimex

 Nov. 6,2006

Added November 7, 2006

The World

Human trafficking has dirty profits and huge costs

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is working in Latin America and the Caribbean to halt the growing people trafficking problem that is vastly under-researched and under-funded.

Poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunity force millions of people to look for a better life by moving away from the places they call home. In Latin America and the Caribbean, illegal emigration is a huge problem, and it goes hand-in-hand with people trafficking and exploitation—pointed out IDB modernization of the state specialist Nybia Laguarda, during a presentation at the Bank’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

According to the United Nations, “people trafficking” is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons (…) for the purpose of exploitation.” It ranges from domestic servitude to forced labor, the removal of organs, prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation.

Unfortunately, it is also big business, bringing in US $32 billion annually, worldwide. This makes people trafficking the most lucrative crime after drug trafficking, according to statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2006). Every year, some 1 to 2 million children, women and men become victims of human trafficking; while traffickers make anywhere between $4,000 and $50,000 per person trafficked, depending on the victim’s place of origin and destination.

Inter-American Development Bank
 Nov. 2,2006

Added November 6, 2006

Man charged with rape

A 60-year-old Copiague man burglarized and raped his female tenant, Suffolk police said.

The incident happened about 4 p.m. Saturday at the apartment the woman rented from Antonio Alvarez in his home on 43rd Street in Copiague, police said.


Police said Alvarez broke into the apartment and forced the woman, whom police did not identify, into "acts of sexual intercourse."

Alvarez was arrested on Saturday, and he was charged with rape in the first degree and burglary in the second degree.

He was arraigned yesterday in First District Court in Central Islip, police said.

- Jennifer Smith
New York NewsDay
November 6, 2006