Sandra (fake name, same girl from the other posts) was the first girl that I met who was involved in prostitution. Lucy first told me that she started working the streets because her mother encouraged it, she wanted her daughter to work because she couldn't afford to send her to school. When I first heard this I had such a hard time understanding how someone could do this to their daughter, of course I still have a hard time imagining the amount of desperation that someone must be in order to do such a thing. Even though I know I will never comprehend fully, the economic burden, the cultural acceptance, the natural instincts of doing anything to survive, I understand a little more now.
The other morning Lucy called me and told me that three girls were arrested last night for "smoking" and they had to spend one night in jail. She wanted to go and bail the girls and talk to them about how the police treated them. When I arrived there with Ruben and my friend Camielle, two of the girls were already gone, they were bailed earlier that day by an aunt, and the last girl Sandra was just getting ready to leave with her mother when we arrived.
When Sandra and her mother were outside of the prison it was time to decide where they were going to go next. Now logically for us we would assume the mother and daughter would go home, but for this child, she really has three or more homes. She could return to San Bartolo with Lucy where she could study, she could go back to the streets and live with her pimp or rent a room with a friend, or she could go and live with her mother.
Of course I would prefer San Bartolo, but in their eyes this option was out of the question. Sandra never felt like she fit in there, and her mother kept saying she has "problems" in San Bartolo. The real fight was if Sandra was going to go back to the streets or go with her mother. Unintentionally, I was in the middle of fight between a mother and daughter. Sandra wasn't saying much, but her mother kept telling me that she wants to be able to take her daughter home with her but she just doesn't have the money. She works so hard selling candies in the streets but she doesn't have enough money to support her daughter. She can't saying to me, miss please help, please help me and my daughter I don't know what to do anymore.
Hearing those things was so hard, I didn't know how to react. Giving them money would just be a quick fix, it would only help them for a little while, but they really need to know how to help themselves long term. This girl needed to understand that it was important to stay in school, that would be the only way that she would be able to get herself out of this situation. Prostituting is making money now but she can't do it forever. She needs help with an alternative that she can sustain herself and her family. Something that she can take pride in. When I ask girls to tell me a little bit about their work, they say I'm embarrassed a lot of times. Why should a 14 year old girl have to go through such a thing?
This day, I got a little bit deeper into the problem, and the deeper that I get the more complicated and tragic it becomes.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Juvenile Hall in Salamanca
Yesterday, I went to visit a juvenile hall for kids from the streets of Lima in Salamanca. This jail had about 32 girls from ages 14 to 17 and two very young kids, a 3 year old and a 5 year old that were there with their mothers.
It doesn't look like a typical prison. There was a volleyball court, television, and tons of giggling and gossiping girls. But surrounding the institution were gates, reminding the girls that they couldn't leave. I asked a lot of them, why they were there. Most of them just told me, that they were in trouble. Others said that it was because they stole something or that they were caught smoking. Ruben told me that a lot of the girls, were prostituting and that's why they were in jail, but I don't know this for sure. According to law, any sexual act against a minor would be the fault of the person that committed the act, it would be considered rape. However in Peru, and even in our country, girls that are forced into this profession are the ones that are prosecuted.
But I didn't want to talk to these girls about that today. I just wanted to talk with them and have fun with them for a while. When Ruben, my friend Camilla and I arrived we had a bag of fresh bread and fruit juice for the girls. Lucky for us we arrived during their lunch. As we walked into the cafeteria all of the girls stood up and said in unison "Good Afternoon Senor, Good Afternoon Senoritas. Thank you for your visit" (In Spanish of course). It was so cute. The girls were so happy that we came to visit. One of the girls said to Ruben that no one has come to visit them for 3 months. I couldn't believe that not even some of the girls parents came to visit.
I asked the girls if they've liked living there. They said that they really didn't, they missed their houses or the streets of Lima. I also asked if they had any school there, and they said no they didn't have any school but they would like to have it. When I asked them what they did all day, they pretty much just spent time with their friends.
I have mixed emotions about places like this. It is good that the girls are off the streets for a while and they have food and a they are in a safe place. What I am not happy with is how these young girls are pretty much rotting there. Those girls would not be there if it wasn't for their families situation. Because they are from poor families they got involved in drugs or stealing or prostitution and the jail that they are in is just making it worse. They aren't given options to do anything different with their lives. No one is showing them how to change.
It doesn't look like a typical prison. There was a volleyball court, television, and tons of giggling and gossiping girls. But surrounding the institution were gates, reminding the girls that they couldn't leave. I asked a lot of them, why they were there. Most of them just told me, that they were in trouble. Others said that it was because they stole something or that they were caught smoking. Ruben told me that a lot of the girls, were prostituting and that's why they were in jail, but I don't know this for sure. According to law, any sexual act against a minor would be the fault of the person that committed the act, it would be considered rape. However in Peru, and even in our country, girls that are forced into this profession are the ones that are prosecuted.
But I didn't want to talk to these girls about that today. I just wanted to talk with them and have fun with them for a while. When Ruben, my friend Camilla and I arrived we had a bag of fresh bread and fruit juice for the girls. Lucky for us we arrived during their lunch. As we walked into the cafeteria all of the girls stood up and said in unison "Good Afternoon Senor, Good Afternoon Senoritas. Thank you for your visit" (In Spanish of course). It was so cute. The girls were so happy that we came to visit. One of the girls said to Ruben that no one has come to visit them for 3 months. I couldn't believe that not even some of the girls parents came to visit.
I asked the girls if they've liked living there. They said that they really didn't, they missed their houses or the streets of Lima. I also asked if they had any school there, and they said no they didn't have any school but they would like to have it. When I asked them what they did all day, they pretty much just spent time with their friends.
I have mixed emotions about places like this. It is good that the girls are off the streets for a while and they have food and a they are in a safe place. What I am not happy with is how these young girls are pretty much rotting there. Those girls would not be there if it wasn't for their families situation. Because they are from poor families they got involved in drugs or stealing or prostitution and the jail that they are in is just making it worse. They aren't given options to do anything different with their lives. No one is showing them how to change.
Centro Yanapankusun
When I went to Centro Yanapankusun in Cuzco, I met with Angelica who is responsible for the center and sees the trafficking cases that come through. The center works with people that are from rural and agricultural areas that are brought into the city in order to work in the domestic setting. Girls are brought into the city at 7 or 8, and they don’t speak Spanish they speak Quechan. The families can’t understand them, so often they are discriminated against. If the child experience a violation against their rights, and the police officers somehow become involved, the child will be referred Yapakanukusun. The center is more than a home for these girls, it’s also a hostel. The girls work at the hostel and they don’t get paid but they are provided an education. Also, those that need it can receive physical and mental assistance.
After Angelica told me a little bit about the center, she went to on to explain some of the typical trends of trafficking the center has seen and also specific cases of trafficking. She has seen many cases of middle men or even teenagers recruiting girls from rural cities to get involved in prostitution by convincing girls that they can have a good job in the city. Two common locations are Juliaca and Puerto Maldonado. Other times, girls from rural areas find their way to the city on their own looking for work and one of the first jobs that girls get when they come from rural is selling phone calls from a cell phone on the street corner. These children are very vulnerable to traffickers because they are easy to find, they are out late, and they usually do not have adults with them. The police don’t really care about this, they feel like there are more important things to do. Angelica lamented to me that the center is one of the only places trying to change and do something about this, and it’s really hard without other organizations support.
One of the cases the center has seen was of two girls that speak Quechua from a community called Ocongante which is in Urcos. The girls were deceived to belive, they were told that they were going to go to the city to get an education and go to a place where they could earn more than 300 soles a week. The person that told them these lies set up a certain time and day where they could meet. When they met there was only a van and a women grabbed them and put them in inside along with 4 other girls that heard the same lies. They went with the van it Juliaca, that’s when they realized that it was all a lie. There the girls cut their hair, they used to have very long traditional braided hair. After that, they were taken to a market to buy new clothes and heels. The girls figured it what was going on and ran away to a police station; the police officers took the girls to the center. In the center they contacted the girl’s families and the families came to the center to pick the girls up. When the police tried to find the lady that contacted that told the girls the lie in the first place, they realized that she gave the girls a fake name, so the police were not able to trace her.
Another case the center has seen was of 8 year old girl, who arrived at the center covered in cuts and bruises. This girl was taken out of her community by her aunt. Her aunt told her family that she was going to bring her to the city to get her an education and a job because the family didn’t have enough money. At the aunts home she forced her to work, abused her, and did not send her to school. One of the girl’s worst experiences was when she was burned in the eye with a hot spoon by her aunt. Angelica did not explain to me how she was brought to the center. But she did say that when she first arrived at the center, she was very shy, she felt like she couldn’t talk to the other girls, and she was very scared of her surroundings. For 6 months the girl received intense psychological services. The girls arrived at the center 2 years ago, and now she is doing much better. All of her cuts and bruise are gone, her eye is healed, and she is a normal, happy, 10 year old girl. Yanapankusun tried their best to follow up on the case and persecute the aunt, but the state can’t do anything about these cases because the child was removed from the home by a family member. When they try to arrest the aunt, she just says that she was trying to help the family because they couldn’t afford to feed her. Angelica said that ehe police don’t really want to get involved in that situation.
This next case is different from the others because of how young the child was when she was first trafficked. Her mother died when she was 4 years old and since that time she has had very little stability in her life, she was moved around so many different places against her will. First the girl was living with her father, but he was an alcoholic and it wasn’t a good environment for her. The girl was moved to live with her sister who had a family of her own. At this home the girl was abused. The brother of the girls realized that the girl was being abused in the house so he took her out of the house and brought her to the city, Cuzco, and left her there on her own. The police found this girl and took her to the police station, and one of the people that work there took her to her house. She was staying with that person, and working in the home. The girl told the center that she really liked that house because everyone treated her well. However, the person that took her in could no longer take care of her as she was growing up, so they took the girl to another home, that is similar to an orphanage for older kids, she was there for 4 years. The home decided that 4 years was a long time for her to be there so she was moved to a temporary family home where she was raped after a week of staying there by the owner’s brother. She reported this to the police and that’s when the police officers took her to the center. Instead of going back to the original home where she was for 4 years, the center was looking for another location because she said that she didn’t want back and explain to everyone how she was raped. She wanted to go someone where no one knew her. At the center she is trying to make the girl realize that it is not her fault, and they are trying to make her feel better. The girl is afraid because she thinks that by reporting the guy he is going to want revenge. At the center they are trying to reassure her that they are going to protect her and that by reporting the guy she is preventing other girls from experiencing the same thing. Even so she has been frustrated that it’s been 4 months and no one has done anything.
After Angelica’s stories I asked her how she thought that trafficking cases could be prevented. They want to focus more on prevention but the state doesn’t pay attention to them so they don’t receive a lot of help. Right now they are working with the girls that have already been abused. Yanapankusun works mainly with domestic workers. They go into homes that they know girls are working and make contract with the girls bosses so that they ensure that their rights are respected.
The girls with these contracts are insured a minimum wage, a day off, and they are treated well. The center wants to make these contracts available to all domestic workers. The ones that don’t have these could potentially be in trafficking situations.
Another prevention method of the center is a program called, “Comunidades Campecinas.” They work in different communities where the girls come from to talk to the fathers and tell them not to send their daughters to the city when they are too young, otherwise they will be abused because they are so little. In addition, they have a radio program that plays every week where they talk about the rights of the domestic worker, the problem, who to call if they need help, some advice, how to look for relatives when in the situation.
They also try to improve the educate and the health centers of the rural areas. If the girls go to the city, sometimes they aren’t ready for the correct grade for their age. Instead they have to go to night school, which usually isn’t very good and they are discriminated against because they don’t have enough money or because of where they are from. The center is trying to improve the education that they provide there, taking into account that the girls may not have had much schooling before. The classes try to focus more on their future and teach skills.
Before I left Yanapankusun, I got a chance to talk to Tania, who used to work in Cuzco hospital and she has seen trafficking cases there as well. She knew of a case of 2 minors that were trafficked from Cuzco to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. One was 15 and the other was 16. The girls were told in Cuzco that they were going to go to the jungle to be a “cook” in but they were forced to work in a bar from 4 am until whenever the clients leave. The girls worked there for 2 years, providing sexual services to clients. Eventually one of the girls ran away back to Cuzco because she was pregnant and she didn’t want to give birth to her baby in the bar.
After Angelica told me a little bit about the center, she went to on to explain some of the typical trends of trafficking the center has seen and also specific cases of trafficking. She has seen many cases of middle men or even teenagers recruiting girls from rural cities to get involved in prostitution by convincing girls that they can have a good job in the city. Two common locations are Juliaca and Puerto Maldonado. Other times, girls from rural areas find their way to the city on their own looking for work and one of the first jobs that girls get when they come from rural is selling phone calls from a cell phone on the street corner. These children are very vulnerable to traffickers because they are easy to find, they are out late, and they usually do not have adults with them. The police don’t really care about this, they feel like there are more important things to do. Angelica lamented to me that the center is one of the only places trying to change and do something about this, and it’s really hard without other organizations support.
One of the cases the center has seen was of two girls that speak Quechua from a community called Ocongante which is in Urcos. The girls were deceived to belive, they were told that they were going to go to the city to get an education and go to a place where they could earn more than 300 soles a week. The person that told them these lies set up a certain time and day where they could meet. When they met there was only a van and a women grabbed them and put them in inside along with 4 other girls that heard the same lies. They went with the van it Juliaca, that’s when they realized that it was all a lie. There the girls cut their hair, they used to have very long traditional braided hair. After that, they were taken to a market to buy new clothes and heels. The girls figured it what was going on and ran away to a police station; the police officers took the girls to the center. In the center they contacted the girl’s families and the families came to the center to pick the girls up. When the police tried to find the lady that contacted that told the girls the lie in the first place, they realized that she gave the girls a fake name, so the police were not able to trace her.
Another case the center has seen was of 8 year old girl, who arrived at the center covered in cuts and bruises. This girl was taken out of her community by her aunt. Her aunt told her family that she was going to bring her to the city to get her an education and a job because the family didn’t have enough money. At the aunts home she forced her to work, abused her, and did not send her to school. One of the girl’s worst experiences was when she was burned in the eye with a hot spoon by her aunt. Angelica did not explain to me how she was brought to the center. But she did say that when she first arrived at the center, she was very shy, she felt like she couldn’t talk to the other girls, and she was very scared of her surroundings. For 6 months the girl received intense psychological services. The girls arrived at the center 2 years ago, and now she is doing much better. All of her cuts and bruise are gone, her eye is healed, and she is a normal, happy, 10 year old girl. Yanapankusun tried their best to follow up on the case and persecute the aunt, but the state can’t do anything about these cases because the child was removed from the home by a family member. When they try to arrest the aunt, she just says that she was trying to help the family because they couldn’t afford to feed her. Angelica said that ehe police don’t really want to get involved in that situation.
This next case is different from the others because of how young the child was when she was first trafficked. Her mother died when she was 4 years old and since that time she has had very little stability in her life, she was moved around so many different places against her will. First the girl was living with her father, but he was an alcoholic and it wasn’t a good environment for her. The girl was moved to live with her sister who had a family of her own. At this home the girl was abused. The brother of the girls realized that the girl was being abused in the house so he took her out of the house and brought her to the city, Cuzco, and left her there on her own. The police found this girl and took her to the police station, and one of the people that work there took her to her house. She was staying with that person, and working in the home. The girl told the center that she really liked that house because everyone treated her well. However, the person that took her in could no longer take care of her as she was growing up, so they took the girl to another home, that is similar to an orphanage for older kids, she was there for 4 years. The home decided that 4 years was a long time for her to be there so she was moved to a temporary family home where she was raped after a week of staying there by the owner’s brother. She reported this to the police and that’s when the police officers took her to the center. Instead of going back to the original home where she was for 4 years, the center was looking for another location because she said that she didn’t want back and explain to everyone how she was raped. She wanted to go someone where no one knew her. At the center she is trying to make the girl realize that it is not her fault, and they are trying to make her feel better. The girl is afraid because she thinks that by reporting the guy he is going to want revenge. At the center they are trying to reassure her that they are going to protect her and that by reporting the guy she is preventing other girls from experiencing the same thing. Even so she has been frustrated that it’s been 4 months and no one has done anything.
After Angelica’s stories I asked her how she thought that trafficking cases could be prevented. They want to focus more on prevention but the state doesn’t pay attention to them so they don’t receive a lot of help. Right now they are working with the girls that have already been abused. Yanapankusun works mainly with domestic workers. They go into homes that they know girls are working and make contract with the girls bosses so that they ensure that their rights are respected.
The girls with these contracts are insured a minimum wage, a day off, and they are treated well. The center wants to make these contracts available to all domestic workers. The ones that don’t have these could potentially be in trafficking situations.
Another prevention method of the center is a program called, “Comunidades Campecinas.” They work in different communities where the girls come from to talk to the fathers and tell them not to send their daughters to the city when they are too young, otherwise they will be abused because they are so little. In addition, they have a radio program that plays every week where they talk about the rights of the domestic worker, the problem, who to call if they need help, some advice, how to look for relatives when in the situation.
They also try to improve the educate and the health centers of the rural areas. If the girls go to the city, sometimes they aren’t ready for the correct grade for their age. Instead they have to go to night school, which usually isn’t very good and they are discriminated against because they don’t have enough money or because of where they are from. The center is trying to improve the education that they provide there, taking into account that the girls may not have had much schooling before. The classes try to focus more on their future and teach skills.
Before I left Yanapankusun, I got a chance to talk to Tania, who used to work in Cuzco hospital and she has seen trafficking cases there as well. She knew of a case of 2 minors that were trafficked from Cuzco to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado. One was 15 and the other was 16. The girls were told in Cuzco that they were going to go to the jungle to be a “cook” in but they were forced to work in a bar from 4 am until whenever the clients leave. The girls worked there for 2 years, providing sexual services to clients. Eventually one of the girls ran away back to Cuzco because she was pregnant and she didn’t want to give birth to her baby in the bar.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
While in Cuzco . . .
I gave my microphone to my friend Ruben who knows a lot of the girls on the street very well and he went and asked them some questions. The interviews were shocking. Again the name "Jorge" is not real, and the names of all the girls interviewed were omitted.
• What’s a night on the streets like?
o They don’t pay us much, the clients pay the pimp. It’s about 20 soles per client or “trick.” The pimp gets 5 soles and the girls get 15 soles. I have one kid and the father of the kid doesn’t help at all with money so she needs to work.
• What do you think about your friends, can they change?
o All of us want to change, they don’t want to be prostitutes, but they reality is we need the money so we have to do it.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o I think that it’s going to be really good and helpful for the girls. She hopes that her friends can get help there.
• Do you want to live there?
o She doesn’t know because she’s not sure if they would accept her and her child.
• Question about Jorge
o The girls sleep with him sometimes. She has slept with him before but she doesn’t like it because he just sleeps with whoever is there and she doesn’t like that. Jorge charges the girls 5 soles a night for a room.
• Has he ever touched you?
o No, he only does that with the other “kids.”
• Have you ever seen any of your friends being touched by these guys?
o Yes, all the time.
• Do the guys watch you change your clothes?
o Jorge gets mad when they go to other rooms to change. Karen usually goes to the bathroom but the other girls are used to it and they change in front of them. Karen doesn’t live at the hostel anymore because she doesn’t like the environment. Now she’s renting a room somewhere else.
• Do you think these girls shouldn’t be here anymore?
o The little girls shouldn’t be here, they should be somewhere where they won’t be sexually abused. Her friends are 13, 14 and 16.
• Do you want to give any advice to your friends?
o They should take the opportunity to change when it’s given to them. If they have kids they need to think about their kids future. They can’t spend their whole life in this. She doesn’t like it but she doesn’t know what to do.
• Tell me a little bit about your life here in Grau
o I don’t really like it, I want to change.
• You work here, right?
o Yes.
• How much do you charge?
o 30 soles
• Do you work for someone?
o Yes
• Who do you have to pay?
o Mrs. Rosa
• How much?
o 10 soles, sometimes when she comes. When she doesn’t come she doesn’t pay her. When I don’t pay Mrs. Rosa, I gets hit or yelled at.
• How is your life here with the girls?
o It’s ugly because people touch us. They get touched a lot by people just passing by in the hostel and sometimes they don’t get paid for it.
• Why do work here?
o We need money to eat and to survive. We live in a cuarto with a man, he’s very nice, his name is Jorge.
• Has he ever abused any of the girls or you?
o Yes. One time he abused me, but I didn’t say anything. The girls have to pay for the room, 10 soles a night. Sometimes he tells the girls, if you do something for me he will charge 3 soles for the room.
• What is “something?” like having sex with him.
o Yes. One time he kicked me out of the house and I had to take all of her stuff with him.
• What do you think about Jorge?
o Jorge also gives me drugs. He can be really mean because he physically abuses the girls by kicking them.
• Do you want to leave this work?
o Yes. Lucy is helping me. I am studying now. Thanks to Lucy I want to do something else with my life.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o That place really changes us.
• So you don’t want to do this anymore?
o No I don’t want to. I want to study and I want to do something else with my life. Thanks to Lucy I’m studying again.
• What advice would you give to your friends?
o To study. Move on. Stop doing this. Studying is way more important than being here in the streets.
• What do you do every night here?
o I work.
• How much do they pay you for a trick?
o 50 to 100 soles.
• Do you do this to help your family?
o I mainly do this for me.
• Where do you stay?
o I was staying with Jorge but there was a problem. He tried to abuse her and her friend.
• How many girls sleep in the same room?
o A lot, 4 or 5 in a room.
• Is he good to you?
o I guess he’s bad. One time he pushed me down the stairs. He curses a lot when he speaks to me.
• Does he ever tell you to have sex with him instead of paying for the room?
o No never.
• Have you ever seen him abuse some of the girls?
o Yes when he’s drunk.
• Can you tell me about the police officers around here?
o One time the police office Tito and he “broke her head.” Tito doesn’t care if the girls are pregnant, he will hit them anyway.
• Does someone ever try to rape you?
o Yes.
• Do you want to change and get off the streets? Find something better?
o Yes.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o I would want to live there.
• What do you want now?
o I want to get out of here. I don’t want to do this anymore.
• What advice would you give to your friends.
o To change.
• Okay, so you have to change too.
o Yes I do.
• Where do you live?
o Pueblo Libre
• How many years have you been on the streets?
o 6 years.
• What do you do on the streets?
o I am a robber.
• Have you ever prostituted?
o No.
• How much do you pay for that room?
o 3 soles
• Do you want to change and leave this world?
o Yes, definitely.
• What opportunities would you like to have?
o I want to study and go to law school.
• What do the police officers do to you?
o People are really mean here, even though I’ve been here for 6 years the police offices hit me with sticks. Once one of the police offices broke my finger.
• Have you ever received a really bad hit from a police officer? Where?
o Yes. In my face and in my finger.
• What would you like to do to stop the police officers from abusing the girls?
o I just wants the police officers to stop.
• What advice would you give your friends?
o They shouldn’t allow people to hit them. The police officers have no right to hit us because we have rights to. They have the right of speech. Just because they are authorities doesn’t mean that they can hit us.
• Tell me what happened today
o One lady came to me and tried to take me to this whore house.
• Where is this house?
o Vila El Salavador
• Have you ever been there?
o One time because a friend took me there.
• What does it look like?
o It just looks like a regular house.
• How many girls are there?
o I don’t know, I was the only girl there. A lot of men used to go there a lot. This lady wanted to girls to charge 20 or 30 soles for each trick.
• Have you ever worked there?
o I worked with her one time, but I wanted to get out of there. I didn’t want to go out with the lady’s husband.
• What did the lady do?
o She was telling me to go with him (her husband). Today the lady came to the street where she works. She wanted to take her to the house but she didn’t want to go there.
• What did she tell you?
o She wanted me to go with her. She told me that if I didn’t go with her I’m going to hit you but if you come I’m going to give you a soda. The lady threatened her with a knife. She was going to kill me she was going to hit me. This is the first time that I’ve seen him come to this street looking for girls but she’s been to other streets before.
• Do you want to report her?
o Yes.
• Yes we need to tell the police about this person, we shouldn’t allow people like this to come to the streets and take the girls and abuse them.
o Yes.
• Are you scared right now?
o Yes.
• Okay, I’m going to stay here so I can take care of you.
o Thanks.
• Anything that happens here, just let me know so we can tell the police and do something about it. You don’t have to be afraid, if you show them you afraid it’s worse.
• What’s a night on the streets like?
o They don’t pay us much, the clients pay the pimp. It’s about 20 soles per client or “trick.” The pimp gets 5 soles and the girls get 15 soles. I have one kid and the father of the kid doesn’t help at all with money so she needs to work.
• What do you think about your friends, can they change?
o All of us want to change, they don’t want to be prostitutes, but they reality is we need the money so we have to do it.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o I think that it’s going to be really good and helpful for the girls. She hopes that her friends can get help there.
• Do you want to live there?
o She doesn’t know because she’s not sure if they would accept her and her child.
• Question about Jorge
o The girls sleep with him sometimes. She has slept with him before but she doesn’t like it because he just sleeps with whoever is there and she doesn’t like that. Jorge charges the girls 5 soles a night for a room.
• Has he ever touched you?
o No, he only does that with the other “kids.”
• Have you ever seen any of your friends being touched by these guys?
o Yes, all the time.
• Do the guys watch you change your clothes?
o Jorge gets mad when they go to other rooms to change. Karen usually goes to the bathroom but the other girls are used to it and they change in front of them. Karen doesn’t live at the hostel anymore because she doesn’t like the environment. Now she’s renting a room somewhere else.
• Do you think these girls shouldn’t be here anymore?
o The little girls shouldn’t be here, they should be somewhere where they won’t be sexually abused. Her friends are 13, 14 and 16.
• Do you want to give any advice to your friends?
o They should take the opportunity to change when it’s given to them. If they have kids they need to think about their kids future. They can’t spend their whole life in this. She doesn’t like it but she doesn’t know what to do.
• Tell me a little bit about your life here in Grau
o I don’t really like it, I want to change.
• You work here, right?
o Yes.
• How much do you charge?
o 30 soles
• Do you work for someone?
o Yes
• Who do you have to pay?
o Mrs. Rosa
• How much?
o 10 soles, sometimes when she comes. When she doesn’t come she doesn’t pay her. When I don’t pay Mrs. Rosa, I gets hit or yelled at.
• How is your life here with the girls?
o It’s ugly because people touch us. They get touched a lot by people just passing by in the hostel and sometimes they don’t get paid for it.
• Why do work here?
o We need money to eat and to survive. We live in a cuarto with a man, he’s very nice, his name is Jorge.
• Has he ever abused any of the girls or you?
o Yes. One time he abused me, but I didn’t say anything. The girls have to pay for the room, 10 soles a night. Sometimes he tells the girls, if you do something for me he will charge 3 soles for the room.
• What is “something?” like having sex with him.
o Yes. One time he kicked me out of the house and I had to take all of her stuff with him.
• What do you think about Jorge?
o Jorge also gives me drugs. He can be really mean because he physically abuses the girls by kicking them.
• Do you want to leave this work?
o Yes. Lucy is helping me. I am studying now. Thanks to Lucy I want to do something else with my life.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o That place really changes us.
• So you don’t want to do this anymore?
o No I don’t want to. I want to study and I want to do something else with my life. Thanks to Lucy I’m studying again.
• What advice would you give to your friends?
o To study. Move on. Stop doing this. Studying is way more important than being here in the streets.
• What do you do every night here?
o I work.
• How much do they pay you for a trick?
o 50 to 100 soles.
• Do you do this to help your family?
o I mainly do this for me.
• Where do you stay?
o I was staying with Jorge but there was a problem. He tried to abuse her and her friend.
• How many girls sleep in the same room?
o A lot, 4 or 5 in a room.
• Is he good to you?
o I guess he’s bad. One time he pushed me down the stairs. He curses a lot when he speaks to me.
• Does he ever tell you to have sex with him instead of paying for the room?
o No never.
• Have you ever seen him abuse some of the girls?
o Yes when he’s drunk.
• Can you tell me about the police officers around here?
o One time the police office Tito and he “broke her head.” Tito doesn’t care if the girls are pregnant, he will hit them anyway.
• Does someone ever try to rape you?
o Yes.
• Do you want to change and get off the streets? Find something better?
o Yes.
• What do you think about La Casa de Veronica?
o I would want to live there.
• What do you want now?
o I want to get out of here. I don’t want to do this anymore.
• What advice would you give to your friends.
o To change.
• Okay, so you have to change too.
o Yes I do.
• Where do you live?
o Pueblo Libre
• How many years have you been on the streets?
o 6 years.
• What do you do on the streets?
o I am a robber.
• Have you ever prostituted?
o No.
• How much do you pay for that room?
o 3 soles
• Do you want to change and leave this world?
o Yes, definitely.
• What opportunities would you like to have?
o I want to study and go to law school.
• What do the police officers do to you?
o People are really mean here, even though I’ve been here for 6 years the police offices hit me with sticks. Once one of the police offices broke my finger.
• Have you ever received a really bad hit from a police officer? Where?
o Yes. In my face and in my finger.
• What would you like to do to stop the police officers from abusing the girls?
o I just wants the police officers to stop.
• What advice would you give your friends?
o They shouldn’t allow people to hit them. The police officers have no right to hit us because we have rights to. They have the right of speech. Just because they are authorities doesn’t mean that they can hit us.
• Tell me what happened today
o One lady came to me and tried to take me to this whore house.
• Where is this house?
o Vila El Salavador
• Have you ever been there?
o One time because a friend took me there.
• What does it look like?
o It just looks like a regular house.
• How many girls are there?
o I don’t know, I was the only girl there. A lot of men used to go there a lot. This lady wanted to girls to charge 20 or 30 soles for each trick.
• Have you ever worked there?
o I worked with her one time, but I wanted to get out of there. I didn’t want to go out with the lady’s husband.
• What did the lady do?
o She was telling me to go with him (her husband). Today the lady came to the street where she works. She wanted to take her to the house but she didn’t want to go there.
• What did she tell you?
o She wanted me to go with her. She told me that if I didn’t go with her I’m going to hit you but if you come I’m going to give you a soda. The lady threatened her with a knife. She was going to kill me she was going to hit me. This is the first time that I’ve seen him come to this street looking for girls but she’s been to other streets before.
• Do you want to report her?
o Yes.
• Yes we need to tell the police about this person, we shouldn’t allow people like this to come to the streets and take the girls and abuse them.
o Yes.
• Are you scared right now?
o Yes.
• Okay, I’m going to stay here so I can take care of you.
o Thanks.
• Anything that happens here, just let me know so we can tell the police and do something about it. You don’t have to be afraid, if you show them you afraid it’s worse.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Intervistas con las chicas
The last few days that I had in Lima before I went to Cuzco were spent going to Iquitos Ave, the main drag of prostituion in Lima and talking to the girls. I had to go while I could because my friends from the church group in Georgia were leaving on Sunday, and they were great translators. The interviews were pretty successful. Very similar answers across the board. The girls that were currently prostituting were not going to school, although they would like to be. When I asked the girls to tell me about their work in the streets many of them said things like "I´m embaressed" or "I don´t want to." One question that had really different answers was: "How much money do you make a night?" I got answers from some nights nothing to 400 soles. I don´t know how common it is to make 400 soles a night or if that´s true. Finally, one of the last questions was "Would you prefer other work?" and all of the girls except one said of course, but there is no other job where they could make as much money.
Okay, so I know that the entry before this one was VERY confusing, but that´s because 1) I honeslty didn´t know at the time what all happend and 2) I prefer not to use names. However, I am going to post an interview with the girl (I´m going to call her Marie) who was dragged from Genericion with one of the girls (I´m going to call her Sandra) who wanted to go back to the streets. Hopefully it will make a little more sense:
Sandra brought Marie to Contumasa, the hostel where 6 girls that are being trafficked live(6 to my knowledge). When they got there, two of the girls yelled at Sandra for bringing her along. Marie met Jorge (not real not), the man who runs the hostel. There she went into the bedroom of Jorge which had many things like a tv and dvd player. There was a big bed and there were also bunk beds. When Sandra is there she sleeps in the room in bed with Jorge. Sometimes Jorge sleeps with two girls. Marie saw Sandra get into bed with him. That night, Jorge bought food for all the girls. Sandra left Isabell and Jorge alone in a room. Then, Jorge asked Marie, “What are you doing here? You should go back to San Bartolo (Genericion), otherwise you would become a prostitute and find a “husband” (pimp).” Marie said that yes she did want to go back. He told her that if she wants to stay she can because he won’t do anything bad to her. After Marie said she wanted to back he reassured her that she can always come back. Marie said she’d prefer to sell candies. Jorge replied that that’s how they all start, but once you start making money and points (clients) she will be back. If she chose to stay in the streets she could come back. After that another girl Candice (not real name), age 14, came back and said she was going to buy a case of beer and they could drink all night long.
Lucy asked Marie if she thought that places like this should exist. She said that it’s supposed to be a hotel for adults but it’s filled with kids. She did see one older couple there that smelled like drugs. Marie also saw a man pay Jorge 120 soles, when it only cost 3 soles to sleep there for the night. She said she thinks these places shouldn’t exist and that he’s doing something wrong. He would tell Marie that she could make 400 soles a night. She thinks that he says those things just to make her stay.
Sandra told Jorge not to let Marie leave because if someone found here than she would be in trouble with Lucy. The other girls found Marie in the hostel and told her to leave with us “the gringas” (slang in spanish for white people). Marie left that night because we were there and she could go with us.
So from this interview, we found out a lot more information about the hostel. Right now I am working on building more evidence about this so that the information can be turned over to authorites when I leave. Another interview that gave us a lot more information was with Candice (not real name):
Candice lives with Jorge in the hostel. When asked what kind of guy is he she says that he’s hit one of the girls before, he yells at the girls, and he has the girls change in front of him. One time he asked one of the girls for 200 soles and never gave it back. Candice said that she isn’t treated badly by Manuel. Sometimes he gets jealous of her because she is with someone else, (she says it´s not her boyfriend but he kind of is). He even told her that he gets jealous and she can tell that he gets grouchy. He asked her to sleep with him and offered to pay but every time she’s said no.
Right now, I am taking a little break from the craziness of the streets of Lima. I´m in Cuzco for a little bit relaxing, and seeing Machu Picchu. While I´m here, I am paying a friend of mine to do some really infromal interviews with these girls while I am gone. When I get back I´m going to pick up right where I left off.
Okay, so I know that the entry before this one was VERY confusing, but that´s because 1) I honeslty didn´t know at the time what all happend and 2) I prefer not to use names. However, I am going to post an interview with the girl (I´m going to call her Marie) who was dragged from Genericion with one of the girls (I´m going to call her Sandra) who wanted to go back to the streets. Hopefully it will make a little more sense:
Sandra brought Marie to Contumasa, the hostel where 6 girls that are being trafficked live(6 to my knowledge). When they got there, two of the girls yelled at Sandra for bringing her along. Marie met Jorge (not real not), the man who runs the hostel. There she went into the bedroom of Jorge which had many things like a tv and dvd player. There was a big bed and there were also bunk beds. When Sandra is there she sleeps in the room in bed with Jorge. Sometimes Jorge sleeps with two girls. Marie saw Sandra get into bed with him. That night, Jorge bought food for all the girls. Sandra left Isabell and Jorge alone in a room. Then, Jorge asked Marie, “What are you doing here? You should go back to San Bartolo (Genericion), otherwise you would become a prostitute and find a “husband” (pimp).” Marie said that yes she did want to go back. He told her that if she wants to stay she can because he won’t do anything bad to her. After Marie said she wanted to back he reassured her that she can always come back. Marie said she’d prefer to sell candies. Jorge replied that that’s how they all start, but once you start making money and points (clients) she will be back. If she chose to stay in the streets she could come back. After that another girl Candice (not real name), age 14, came back and said she was going to buy a case of beer and they could drink all night long.
Lucy asked Marie if she thought that places like this should exist. She said that it’s supposed to be a hotel for adults but it’s filled with kids. She did see one older couple there that smelled like drugs. Marie also saw a man pay Jorge 120 soles, when it only cost 3 soles to sleep there for the night. She said she thinks these places shouldn’t exist and that he’s doing something wrong. He would tell Marie that she could make 400 soles a night. She thinks that he says those things just to make her stay.
Sandra told Jorge not to let Marie leave because if someone found here than she would be in trouble with Lucy. The other girls found Marie in the hostel and told her to leave with us “the gringas” (slang in spanish for white people). Marie left that night because we were there and she could go with us.
So from this interview, we found out a lot more information about the hostel. Right now I am working on building more evidence about this so that the information can be turned over to authorites when I leave. Another interview that gave us a lot more information was with Candice (not real name):
Candice lives with Jorge in the hostel. When asked what kind of guy is he she says that he’s hit one of the girls before, he yells at the girls, and he has the girls change in front of him. One time he asked one of the girls for 200 soles and never gave it back. Candice said that she isn’t treated badly by Manuel. Sometimes he gets jealous of her because she is with someone else, (she says it´s not her boyfriend but he kind of is). He even told her that he gets jealous and she can tell that he gets grouchy. He asked her to sleep with him and offered to pay but every time she’s said no.
Right now, I am taking a little break from the craziness of the streets of Lima. I´m in Cuzco for a little bit relaxing, and seeing Machu Picchu. While I´m here, I am paying a friend of mine to do some really infromal interviews with these girls while I am gone. When I get back I´m going to pick up right where I left off.
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