September 9, 2001

(The long-awaited release of this important study was completely overshadowed by the tragic events that occurred two days later on September 11th, 2001 in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC.)

Release of U.S. Study of Sexually Exploited Children in the Americas

 From: Dr. Richard J. Estes, University of Pennsylvania

The results of our two-year study into the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be formally released on Monday, September 10 at 1200N at a special news conference taking place in Washington. Stories concerning the research, among other outlets, will appear in the Monday morning issues of the New York Times, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and on major electronic media such as the BBC and CNN.

As a contributor to the effort, I want to direct you to our web site where you can download a copy of the study's complete report (400+ pages including the appendix).  Alternatively, the site also contains a shorter Executive Summary (40 pages) and Abstract (3 pages) of the study's major findings. Other materials of interest to you, including the Mexican National report, have been uploaded to the site as well. The results of the Canadian National survey will be posted to the site in a few weeks.    The address for the web site is: http://caster.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/CSEC.htm

"The Problem:

To most people slavery is a relic of the past.  Yet, an estimated 2,000,000 women and children are held in sexual servitude throughout the world.  Eighty percent of them are under the age of 24, and an estimated 50% were internationally trafficked from one country to another.  The precise numbers are unknown and difficult to determine for lack of empirical research in the different countries where this criminal phenomenon exists.  Nevertheless, it is estimated that yearly, between 100,000 and 200,000 young women and children, some as young as 6 years old, are trafficked for sexual exploitation from one country to another.

Anecdotal accounts suggest that those held in sexual servitude have a short life-span.  Most of them die within a few years due to abuse, torture, neglect and disease.  A reasonable statistical projection is that 15% of the sexually exploited population, or 30,000 women and children, die every year.  Over a ten year span, it is more than those killed by the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This is why it is the most compelling human rights problem of our time.  Yet, this tragic situation is causing few concerns among most government of the world...

A Project in the Americas

The first step in stopping the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is to obtain an analyze data that more fully addresses the scope and nature of the problem.  The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI), in partnership with the Inter-American Commission of Women and the Inter-American Children's Institute, both of the Organization of American States (OAS), have chosen to begin this massive undertaking in the Americas as part of a worldwide study.  The initial project focuses on fourteen countries that represent the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Americas.  They are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua."

Addition information is available in this site.

July 12, 2001

Report on the Trafficking of Persons from Central America to the United States

On July 12th, 2001, the United States Department of State issued a report on the trafficking of persons into the United States from around the world.

See Casa Alianza's summary of the U.S. State Department's data on the trafficking of persons from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico at: http://www.casa-alianza.org/EN/lastminute/812001.htm

June 17th, 2001 - Queen of England Honors Casa Alianaza Director Bruce Harris

Britain's Queen Elizabeth the Second, in her Birthday Honors List published today, has decorated Bruce Harris for his life's work with children in Latin America.

Harris, 46, is the British Executive Director of the Latin American Programs of Casa Alianza, a charity that provides both residential and non residential services for more than 9,000 children each year in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Congratulations Bruce Harris!

June 4, 2001 

AN SOS FOR THE OAS - Why are you not protecting the region's children???
By Bruce Harris

"It should be no surprise to people that the plight of the great majority of children in the Americas can be described as nothing less than dire. More than half the population of the Americas is under the age of 18. But apart from during election campaigns, our political leaders are not placing enough real and proportional attention to the well being of this continent's children.

Children are forced to fight adult wars in Colombia; more than 750 poor children and youth have been murdered in Honduras in just over three years; the torture and murder of street children in Guatemala by members of the police; the trafficking of Mexican children to the United States for sexual exploitation; rampant child prostitution in Costa Rica; the production of child pornography in Brazil. The list goes on and on.

And this does not take into consideration the millions of Latino children who do not have enough food to eat. Millions of children who have no access to school because they are forced to work to support their disintegrated family's economy. Millions of street children who have been abandoned by their families and by the very society that created them.

The situation is shameful."   Complete article

If you have information about or suspect this type of illegal activity, contact the U.S. Customs Service as soon as possible. Call 1-800-BE-ALERT. Also see www.Customs.Org 

The U.S. Customs Service also works closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to combat the proliferation of this disturbing material. You can also report suspicious activity relating to child pornography to their "Tipline" at 1-800-843-5678 - or via their website: www.missingkids.org

May 23, 2001 - International talk show host Laura Bozzo's show "Laura in America" from the Telemundo Network breaks new ground in confronting the widespread physical assault and rape with impunity of Peruvian women domestically and in the workplace. 

Friday, May 25th, 2001

TWO MORE TEENAGE STREET GIRLS MURDERED IN HONDURAS

The disgraceful murder of street children in Honduras continues.

On Wednesday of this week, the partly decomposed bodies of  former Casa Alianza resident Cinthia Valeska Rivera (14) and her 15 year old friend Wendy (surname unknown) were found thrown amongst the rubbish on the "El Estiquirin" hill in Comayaguela, a suburb of Tegucigalpa.

According to the local authorities, both girls had been taken to the solitary location alive and, with their hands tied, had been raped. Both girls were then shot through the head.

Cinthia and Wendy were last seen on Sunday evening. At approximately 6:30pm Cinthia, who lives in the "temporary" housing built for victims of  hurricane Mitch more than two and a half years ago, left with Wendy and another friend known as "El Trueno", a member of the 18th street gang.

Casa Alianza buried Cinthia in the organization's graveyard. The mother is petrified of reprisals. Casa Alianza has offered free legal defence for her in order to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence against Cinthis and Wendy.

More than 720 children and youth have been murdered in Honduras between January 1998 and April 30th, 2001. Despite urgent requests to the President of Honduras for the formation of a national commission to look into the murders of children - in more than 60% of which no-one has been charged -  there has been no response.

PLEASE sent a polite yet firm message to the following authorities insisting:

- that the murder of children and youth be halted

- that the perpetrators of the murders be identified and brought to justice

Ingeniero CARLOS FLORES FACUSSE (Engineer Carlos Flores Facusse)

Presidente Constitucional de la República de  Honduras (Constitutional President of the Republic of Honduras)

Casa Presidencial (Presidential House)

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Fax:  +504-235-69-49

Profesor RAFAEL PINEDA PONCE

Presidente del Congreso Nacional  (President of the National Congress)

Palacio Legislativo

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Fax:  +504-238-6048

Abogado (Attorney) MIGUEL ANGEL RIVERA PORTILLO

Presidente, Corte Suprema de Justicia (President, The Supreme Court of Justice)

Palacio Judicial (The Judicial Palace)

Fax: +504-233-7921

Doctor LEO VALLADARES LANZA

Comisionado Nacional de Derechos  Humanos (National Commission on Human Rights)

Fax:  +504-221-0536

lvalladares@cablecolor.hn

Señor CARLOS ARMANDO ZELAYA ROSALES

Comisión Ordinaria de Derechos Humanos  del Congreso Nacional (Standing Commission for Human Rights of the National Congress)

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Fax: +504-238-6048

WITH COPIES TO THE NEWSPAPERS:

El Heraldo:  heraldo2@datum.hn

La Tribuna:  tribuna@latribuna.hn

Radio America:  info@radioamerica.hn

And a copy for me to: info@casa-alianza.org

I don't know about you, but I am as frustrated as can be...  WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO DO TO STOP THESE MURDERS??????????

Please help...

Bruce Harris

Executive Director

Latin American Programs

Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin America

Tuesday, May 23, 2001

The interationally broadcast Peruvian TV talk show "Laura in America" is breaking new ground in the coverage of the widespread sexual exploitation and physical abuse faced by women and young girls at home and in the workplace.

The international Spanish Language program "Laura en America," originates in Peru and is broadcast via the Telemundo network.  Similar in format to many American daytime talk shows, Laura en America dares to break with the code of silence on sexual exploitation issues affecting women in Peru.  Each day lawyer and talk show host Laura Bozzo features several women who have survived abuse or rape from their husbands, boyfriends or bosses.  Women tell their stories, and the alleged abuser is brought onto the set of the live show to be questioned and, often, to be shown film of their own misdeeds.  The women abused by these men are given a chance to confront the accused, and the show allows a good deal more violence from the victims than would be permitted even on America's Jerry Springer Show.  

Unlike the Springer Show, Laura in America is serious, and is providing a groundbreaking forum for the open and heated discussion of sexual exploitation issues affecting Latin American women.  In addition to seeking out women from everyday life to assist via her show, Laura Bozzo is active in other venues, bringing assistance to exploited women in need.

On Tuesday, May 22, 2001, Laura en America covered the issue of the sexual exploitation of young, poor women who work in office jobs in Peru.  In two separate cases, multiple victims of bosses who demanded sex, and then raped the women workers, were confronted by the victims in the presence of the accused men's surprised spouses.  One victim appeared on the show at 4 months into her pregnancy.  She became pregnant after her boss gave her a date rape drug, and she woke up in a hotel room with him, having been raped against her will.  The other man featured had also raped his female workers with the use of force.

The previous day, May 21st, Laura en America featured several Peruvian women who were routinely savagely beaten by their husbands, and who had numerous scars everywhere on their bodies.  One husband had thrown his wife off of a second story balcony in their apartment.  The husband showed no remorse, a common reaction from the men confronted on this show.  This abuser complained to the show host that his wife didn't have his permission to come to the Laura in America show.

Another recent show of Laura en America had victims who secretly video taped their husbands beating them mercilessly in their homes and threatening to kill them.  The city prosecutor arrested these men immediately after the talk show ended.

We at LibertadLatina want to thank Laura Bozzo for exposing the truth in such an open and powerful way.  Laura's work is pioneering, and, like its competitor, the Cristina Show on the Univision Network, she is doing the much needed work of confronting criminal impunity in the form of rape, physical and psychological violence and the degradation of women in Peruvian society.  A society where an estimated 75% of girl children are raped before their 15th birthday, and where an estimated 80% of men beat their wives.  Laura Bozzo is saving lives and building a brighter future for all women and children in the Spanish speaking world.

Laura en America is effectively the TV version of our web site, and we at LibertadLatina find in Laura encouragement to persist in the struggle to defend women and children from sexual and physical abuse and rape with impunity, a centuries-old problem that in the year 2001 is growing explosively and is merging with the scourges of cartel-backed criminal sex trafficking and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  There is no justification for the abuse of women and children, nor for continuing to treat women and children as inferior and sometimes disposable human beings who simply exist to please men.

LibertadLatina  especially thanks Laura Bozzo for breaking the code of silence that allows the exploitation of women to continue as if it were something sacred, which it sure is not.  Silence is also violence!

A Spanish language description of the Laura en America show, and Laura Bozzo's photo are available at: http://www.telemundo.com 

Telemundo is broadcast via cable in most regions of the United States, and is carried worldwide to other Spanish speaking TV markets.

- LibertadLatina 

Friday, May 4, 2001

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)

 The NCMEC reported on the growing problem of the international trade of children for sexual slavery at the The National Press Club, Washington, DC.

Casa Alianza - Guatemala: 

12 files missing after break in

April  24, 2001

On April 2nd, 2001, the program offices of Casa Alianza in Guatemala were broken into and ransacked. Several hundred files containing personal information about the street children with whom Casa Alianza works on the streets of Guatemala City were strewn all over the floor.

After clearing up the mess and checking each and every file, we have determined there are a total of 12 active files missing. (An active file is that of an actual street children and youth with whom we are working at the present time, all of whom are between the ages of 14 and 22). The missing files are:

We are not sure as to why these particular files were selected and the information has been passed to the Guatemalan authorities. The Casa Alianza street educators are searching for each of the children and youth who's files are missing to make sure that they are OK and that nothing has happened to them.

No further investigative actions have been undertaken by the authorities. Several non governmental organizations have been subjected to similar breakins over the past few months in Guatemala. Casa Alianza has more than 400 criminal cases languishing in the Guatemalan judicial system, many of the cases against policemen and other authorities who are accused of having committed human rights violations against street children.

As a result of the tremendous response to the Amnesty International Urgent Action (AIUA 90/01), it appears that the Guatemalan President's Office turned off their fax machine or changed the number as many calls have not gone through.

Please note that the correct address for Casa Alianza Guatemala is Apartado 2704, Guatemala City, Guatemala. The fax for Casa Alianza is +502-253-3003.

Please send a polite message, stating the country you are writing from, to the following email addresses asking that the investigation into the theft of Casa Alianza files be fully investigated and that the safety of the street children be guaranteed.

Guatemalan Embassy in Washington

Guatemalan Embassy in London

El Periodico (national paper), Guatemala

Channel 7 TV News, Guatemala

With a copy to info@casa-alianza.org Thank you for taking the time to care.

For further information, please contact Bruce Harris in Costa Rica at +506-253-5439 or Casa Alianza’s award winning website at http://www.casa-alianza.org

From: Casa Alianza http://www.casa-alianza.org 

The Dark Tourists Newsweek report

April/22/2001  -   Excerpt:

"If you're willing to accept any tourist as long as he has dollars to spend, there's going to be a problem."

Bruce Harris Executive Director of Casa Alianza

Costa Rica is renowned for its democratic traditions, sparkling beaches and lush rain forests. But lately the country has acquired a gloomier reputation-as an international haven for pedophiles. Inside the fight to stop the seediest trade.

By Joseph Contreras NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL

Richard Casper always looked a little out of place among the brothel owners and escort-service managers who run Costa Rica's partly legalized prostitution industry. The slender, long-haired American had the disheveled appearance of an aging gringo hippie when he moved to the capital city of San Jose in the early 1990s, but he soon got into a business that had nothing to do with free love. He opened a cathouse called the BBC and later launched an online escort service called "Costa Rica Nights" that supposedly offered only hookers 18 years of age or older. But street-legal, adult sex may not have been the only commodity that Casper was purveying over the Internet.

COSTA RICAN AUTHORITIES arrested the 43-year-old Casper last November on charges of furnishing clients with schoolgirls between the ages of 12 and 14 for sex at prices ranging from $300 to $600. At the time of his capture, police also seized more than 600 pornographic photos of underage girls that Casper was allegedly distributing with the help of Italian and Costa Rican business partners. He has denied the charges-but if convicted, Casper will face up to 16 years in prison for aggravated pimping and producing child pornography.

April 5, 2001

Casa Alianza's Guatemala Office ransacked

On Monday morning, April 2nd, Casa Alianza staff verified that the agency's offices on 4th Avenue in Zone 1 of Guatemala City had been broken into and a series of files had been ransacked.

At least two unidentified people broke into the second floor of the two story office building which houses the Casa Alianza Street Educators and the Legal Aid Program. The metal files of the street educators - where they store information on the individual street children attended to in the street - were forced open and the hundreds of files strewn all around. The staff are currently trying to establish which files, if any, were stolen. Two digital cameras are missing.

It appears that the unidentified persons also tried to go down to the ground floor where Casa Alianza's Legal Aid Program is located, but they were unable to pass through the locked metal gates that the agency placed in the building as a security measure.

Whilst there are a lot of breakins in Guatemala City, Casa Alianza is concerned that several other non governmental agency offices have also been burgled and trashed during the past few weeks.

"We do not want to read more into this incident than is necessary, but it happens during a week when the agency has received a series of strange phone calls and also visits from the police who are supposedly investigating the hostage taking of children", informed Arturo Echeverria, the National Director of Casa Alianza Guatemala.

The break in and theft was immediately reported to the police and investigative authorities. The police came to the Casa Alianza office and were able to find several sets of prints.

For further information, please contact Bruce Harris in Costa Rica at +506-253-5439 or Casa Alianza’s award winning website at http://www.casa-alianza.org