Reportage
The nightmare of Guatemalan migrant women raped on the road to the “American dream”
According to the latest INCEDES-UNFPA report, migrant women from Central America have a 25% chance of being victims of sexual abuse when traveling to the United States.
AP-Santiago Billy
Text by: Diana Fuentes
9 mins
There is a taboo drama about migration in Central America, that of Guatemalan women migrating to the United States who prepare themselves with contraceptives in order to prevent the results of an almost certain rape on the road.
RFI in Spanish obtained testimonies from women – and men – at both ends of the journey.
They tell of the cruelty of the smugglers and how, if they return to their villages, they are stigmatized.
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Everyone knows it, but no one talks about it.
Rape is a taboo subject in indigenous communities.
If a woman emigrated to the United States and suffered sexual abuse, she will never tell.
They prepare for their trip to the United States as one goes to war, because they know that they can be raped or even murdered during the journey.
After a search that seemed impossible, we found the story of a young indigenous woman, who agreed to tell us anonymously about her heartbreaking experience on her journey north.
“
When I wanted to start my trip to the United States, of course I was scared.
I thought people might abuse me
,” she says.
A constant anxiety
“
I decided to leave Guatemala to travel to the United States because I wanted to fulfill my American dream.
In Guatemala, even if you have graduated from high school, you cannot find a job, so in order to be able to live, you have to make life or death decisions
,” the young woman continues.
“
During the trip, I was abused by a smuggler when I entered the warehouse.
He asked me if I wanted to go to the United States, so he grabbed me and threw me in a dark part where they left me alone.
All the companions came out so they could accomplish whatever they wanted from me.
I let myself go and after that they helped me a little, but I had to pay them.
»
This story is similar to those of many indigenous Guatemalan migrant women, who now live in the United States, and many others, who cannot tell it because they were burned, raped or suffocated to death.
When they leave their community, the anguish and suffering of being raped is permanent throughout the journey.
“
I forgot what happened
”
Data collection is currently weak due to the lack of complaints, but in the 2021 government report, President Alejandro Giammattei assured that 80% of women seeking to go to the United States are raped along the way.
The information was verified by the digital media Ocote, which denied it.
Migrant survivors of sexual abuse still have no place to report what they go through on the road and the only ones who care about them are their loved ones.
“
When I arrived in the United States, I was happy to be alive.
My family didn't know anything about me, they didn't know if I was alive or dead.
Over time, I found companions who had already arrived in the United States.
They encouraged me and I forgot what had happened
, ”continues the woman.
“
Now I work in a restaurant, earning money as I wanted, because in Guatemala I couldn't.
I feel satisfied with what I am doing today and when I return to Guatemala, I will no longer be without resources;
I will achieve what I dreamed of when I was a child.
I had a dream in which I saw successful people.
So I said to myself that I wanted to do it… and I will do
it, ”she concludes.
Preparing to heal better afterwards
“
Rape is one of the risks.
According to polls, one of the greatest fears of women is to experience rape and, in a way, all women think about it
,” psychologist Margarita Girón, a specialist in women survivors of sexual abuse, explains to RFI.
“
So
when a woman knows she's at risk, she can prevent a possible pregnancy, take medicine to treat a sexually transmitted infection and feel calmer.
She will be able to recover better than someone completely unsuspecting, someone who hasn't thought about it and taken no security measures.
I believe that the latter will have a greater psychological stress response than
"
That doesn't mean that if a person prepares for it, they won't be affected, or that it's wrong to prepare,
" says Margarita Girón
.
I believe that a person who knows the context and takes steps to minimize the impact of a possible assault will be more likely to recover and have control over their life.
»
Iodine to inhibit sexual desire
“
Perhaps some do not imagine that they can be violated along the way.
Maybe they've heard of it.
But you start off with the idea that you will manage to arrive [in the United States] and that nothing will happen to you
,” said a 23-year-old young man from Comitancillo, in the southwestern department of San Marcos. .
He managed to reach the United States.
“
Coming to the last group, those tending the warehouse grabbed the women to cook and feed some of the group and I remember them walking around the warehouse and they told my partner to join them and that they would do their best to get her papers for the United States, but they are all lies.
They say it to take advantage of us poor people
,” he recalls.
For the smugglers, it has become mandatory for women to prepare themselves using a contraceptive method, so as not to get them pregnant during the trip.
“
I heard my comrades say that the smuggler had asked them to give themselves injections so as not to have children.
Also, we noticed that the food we were served stank.
We asked why and they told us that iodine had been poured into it, so that neither the man nor the woman would have sexual desire
”, says the man.
Iodine, if consumed in large doses, causes burning in the mouth, throat and stomach, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weak pulse and coma.
But according to guides or smugglers, it inhibits sexual desire.
“
They come back in worse conditions than before
”
“
Men find it more difficult to bear these kinds of issues, mainly because of the culture in which we live, where masculinity is sometimes associated with domination or even violence.
It is more difficult for them to talk about it.
They do not ask for help and it is very rare that one of them seeks help
,” observes psychologist Margarita Girón.
For 17 years, the Pop Noj association has supported unaccompanied teenagers and indigenous children who decide to go to the United States, or who have returned to their community.
“
When they go back to their community, they see them badly, as if they didn't come back the right way.
If it is a young woman, it will be difficult for her to go out and talk to people.
We do not perceive it with the eyes of virginity.
Here they see chastity in another way.
As soon as they return to their community, there is a certain rejection, as if they were dirty women
,” explains Delia Catú, one of the leaders of the association.
The organization has information on cases of teenage girls and women who became pregnant as a result of these rapes.
For Delia, it is important that minors who are going to migrate have prior information on how to do so and are protected against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
"
Young Mayan adolescent girls present with physical and emotional difficulties, including headaches, gastrointestinal problems, urinary tract infections from sexual contact, somatic symptoms, post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, lack of concentration, low self-esteem, distrust, constant anxiety and anger, worry about travel debt and difficulty establishing a life plan.
The process of return and community reintegration is difficult mainly because of the lack of follow-up of cases by state and local governments.
They come back in worse conditions than before they left
,” she complains.
Mónica Aguilón, a local indigenous presenter from Comitancillo, San Marcos, even explains how the women hide if they come back: “
I recently saw a sister come back and what she did was lock herself up.
She didn't come out until they scheduled the second trip attempt, to go back to the United States.
(...) There are comrades and sisters who have been raped.
I don't think that's fair.
Unfortunately, the central government of the country does not see this situation
”.
Few complaints
RFI has asked the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Human Trafficking (Svet) for information on the number of migrant women and men who have reported sexual abuse while traveling to the United States.
"
At Svet, we do not establish the registration and/or follow-up of complaints for crimes
", we were told.
Since July 1, 2019, Svet has opened the Temporary Shelter specialized in the reception of migrant women, which provides psychological support and social services to women victims of the crime of human trafficking.
According to his information, eight people housed were reported as victims of rape, between January and July 2022. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports the repatriation of 22 victims of human trafficking from January to August 2022. During this same period , it is also estimated that 41,000 migrants were returned to Guatemala from different countries.
Both men and women generally do not seek help because of the way the Guatemalan justice system works.
In the case of children, especially unaccompanied children, the chances of suffering different types of abuse increase, and filing a complaint and seeking help is more complicated.
In any case, the scenario is worse when it comes to mental health, when the victim files a complaint, because the process can be exhausting.
Translated by Elsa Olaizola
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