WUNRN
"The
Guatemala government estimated that 10,000 women were raped last year, about 77
for every 100,000 residents. The real numbers are likely higher, organizations
said."
GUATEMALA - WIDESPREAD RAPE &
SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN
PRESSURES PUSH GOVERNMENT ATTENTION,
ACTION
In Guatemala, drug trafficking, gang
violence, and a climate of impunity lead to
widespread rape of women. At least
10,000 women were victims of sexual violence in Guatemala last year.
November 20, 2009
Guatemala
City - Moving
up the ranks of Guatemala's ruthless gangs can be as simple as robbing a store
at knife point or as brutal as shooting a city bus driver. Marisole figures she
fell somewhere in between.
In January,
a group of gang members ripped the teenager off a public bus at 7:30 a.m. Six
of them raped her for nine hours in a house she'd never seen. Eventually they
dropped her off shirtless in a nearby shopping center parking lot. .
"It
hurt so much," said Marisole, who did not want her last name used for fear
of her safety. "I don't know why they did it. I thought they were just
going to rob the bus. I made eye contact with them. And they just took me away
in front of everyone."
From the
patriarchal days of the Spanish conquistadors to the military's systematic
torture of women during its 36-year civil war, the country has long cultivated
a reputation as one of the Western hemisphere's most brutal places for women.
These days, Marisole and thousands of other victims of gang violence and a wave
of street crime are giving that long-standing problem a new face. The
government estimated that 10,000 women were raped last year, about 77 for every
100,000 residents. The real numbers are likely higher, organizations said.
But the
alarming rate of abuse is finally garnering attention – and action – from the
government, which observers say might be a sign that the conservative culture
is ready to address the problem.
"The
situation is worse than it was during the war. It's terrible. But, with
pressure from the international community, we've been able to push the
government to start acknowledging the problem," says Norma Cruz, director
of Fundación Sobrevivientes, which helps victims navigate the legal system to
prosecute their crimes. The foundation is part of a network of women's rights
groups that pressured the government into passing a law last year that set
stricter penalties for rape and murder of women. "We still don't have
solutions to prevent it from happening, but we now have a beginning."
From the
streets of San Salvador to the murders of women in Juárez, Mexico, and domestic
violence in the US, violence against women cuts across the hemisphere. But
Guatemala's history, its male-dominated culture, the growth of gangs battling
for territory and the climbing level of violence have made its problem more
complex.
"Of all
the banana republics, it's the most repressive," says Roselyn Costantino,
a Pennsylvania State University professor who studies violence against women in
the region. "The country is out of control right now with [drug]
trafficking and violence, and women are often the innocent ones caught in
between."
While drugs
and violence are common throughout Latin America, Guatemala's broken judicial
system largely allows gangs to rape and kill with impunity. Only 2 percent of
crimes are brought to trial, according to the United Nations.
Violence
against women also has deep roots in Guatemalan society. Throughout the
conservative society, women have little protection. Under the domestic abuse
law, for example, charges can only be brought if a woman's bruises are visible
10 days after the incident.
"Women
have never been equal partners in this society," Costantino said. They
have always been looked on as property, he added. "This is a culture that
has never wanted to confront its legacy of violence against women."
Colombian
cocaine passes through Guatemala
Members of
Mara Salvatrucha 13 and Mara 18, two of the largest gangs in Central America,
use rape as a way to gain a reputation. During territory disputes, such as the
one in Marisole's neighborhood, they will often target women as a method of
instilling fear by which to control areas.
"By
dropping someone off without her blouse on after they'd raped her, they are
saying, 'We control this neighborhood and you better not cross us,'" says
Harry E. Vanden, a researcher who specializes in Central American gangs and has
served as an expert witness in cases against gang members.
Territorial
control is of particular importance to gangs these days. Mexico's war on drugs
has led cartels to set up operations in Guatemala, through which some 80
percent of Colombian cocaine passes on its way north, US officials have
estimated. And gangs are vying for supremacy to win lucrative relationships
with drug traffickers.
"They
use rape as a way to take vengeance on a family and to keep their neighborhood
in line," Dr. Vanden says.
Sexual
violence became so acute in recent years that Doctors Without Borders started
its only mission in Latin America dedicated to treating sex victims in
Guatemala City. And Nov. 25, the United Nations will open its Latin America
chapter of its UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign in Guatemala.
"This
is a humanitarian crisis," says Patricia Parra, the chief of mission for
Doctors Without Borders in Guatemala. "The level of this problem is
similar to the levels during the war. We're seeing conflict-level violence
against women in what is supposedly a post-conflict country."
Society
starts to address rape
But as the
problem proliferates there is also the kindling of a solution. Instead of
crimes going unreported like so many did before, rapes like Marisole's are now
documented. Under the new law, victims can even use evidence collected by the
doctors to push for a prosecution.
Just two
years ago a victim would be treated for her wounds, but the rape would not be
documented. Doctors Without Borders is training the country's medical system to
record rapes and other sexual crimes and to collect statistics on their
prevalence.
"Two or
three years ago, you couldn't utter the words violence against women, or
rape," says Dr. Pedro Rosales, a Guatemalan physician who heads up the
government's new sexual violence project. "Now, we are actually collecting
statistics on how many of those cases occur and prosecuting crimes."
Reliable
numbers would focus the government's attention, and that could help shape
policies, says Nadine Gasman, Guatemala's representative for the United Nations
Population Fund.
"It's
really important to acknowledge that this is not normal, that this is not the
way things should be. It haunts these girls all their lives," she says.
"We need to find ways to prevent it from happening. I'm a strong believer
that if the state would take the lead, it would make a huge difference."
The UN is
funding programs that seek to teach sexual equality to young men and teenagers.
They have also funded performing arts groups and documentary makers that
produce works that question the country's machismo culture.
The Red
Cross and other groups are also working to keep youth from falling into gangs.
Although
most agree Guatemala needs to incorporate sexual equality into its school
curriculum and train doctors to look for the signs of sexual violence, the
government has still failed to bring such programs into its ministries of
health and education.
"I
think the fact that we're able to talk about it as a society and the fact that
we're recognizing the problem will help us come up with a way to prevent the
problem," Rosales said.
Facing
accusations that it has ignored the problem, the Guatemalan government last
year passed a femicide law. It followed this year with the creation of a
presidential office to assist in implementing the new legislation. More than 30
cases are currently being prosecuted under the law, which went into effect
earlier this year. But the law is only minimally effective in a justice system
riddled with corruption and impunity.
"The
law is important, but we have a system in which 98 percent of crimes are not
even brought to trial. Even fewer are convicted," says Cruz, of Fundación
Sobrevivientes. "For a woman to press for her crime to be prosecuted takes
a lot of courage."
Under
threat, women drop charges
Marisole
said she chose not to push for her crime to be prosecuted because her attackers
told her they would kill her and her family. Eight of 10 women who press
charges wind up dropping them.
A virgin
when she was raped, she says, Marisole has suffered with shame in recent
months, telling just two of her closest friends about the incident. These days,
sitting next to a man on a bus or being alone with her boyfriend make her
nervous. "I hope I get better one day," she says. "But I'm
afraid I'm hurt for life."
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