Migrants cross the Rio Grande to the United States. Photo: Chandan Khanna / AFP
Under his breath, Aracely (his name has been changed), 34, explains how he prepares to travel. “My friends have told me that I have to prepare and take vitamins (sic). They say so the road is very hard“, invoice.
Aracely refers to the long and winding journey that awaits her from her native Guatemala to the United States. A journey full of dangers, including being assaulted, raped and get pregnant.
“Yes, I am afraid of being abused because my friends who have traveled to the United States have been sexually abused. They did not get pregnant, because they protected themselves before traveling. This is my fear and I am preventing it, ”says this mother of two.
The wall that separates the United States from Mexico, in Tijuana. Photo: Bloomberg
Another migrant, Teresa, arrived in Illinois a year ago. “The women also commented on that the coyote itself and comrades abused or touched them, ”he recalls. “Thank God I didn’t spend that bitter pill in my case.”
In most indigenous peoples there are very strong religious beliefs. If the migrants do not arrive and are deported, when they return to their country a series of rumors spread that condemns them, claiming that they have already been raped and they are dirty.
travel alone
Aracely knows it will be a risk to travel alone, her husband died a year ago and is now looking after the children. Without a job, her only solution is to leave, but before doing so she will make a very strong decision. “I went to the health center to opt for the three-month injection“, details.
Aracely travels alone with her children. Photo: Bloomberg
When they are scammed by traffickers, they sometimes do it the payment for a new coyote is with sex or illegal work. If they get caught by the feds in no-man’s-land, they can be too mistreated by the police.
Aracely explains what her future would be if that were to happen.
“The truth is that if I was sexually abused, I think once I got there I would have to seek psychological treatment and would continue with my life, struggling, working to support my family that I left in Guatemala,” he explains.
The perception of probable risk in migrant sexual violence is 25.31%, according to a report published in October 2018 by INCEDES-UNFPA. Data collection is currently weak due to the lack of complaints.
The images are harsh, as reports from the relief corps show that in these caravans and in the irregular migration through blind spots there are women who have been raped during their journey. Few or none had access to any reviews at health centers.
The evolution of migration before and during the pandemic led girls, adolescents and women to be more exposed to these abuses without any convictions for rapists.
Migrants say they are fleeing violence, poverty, unemployment and a lack of education and health in their countries, a situation aggravated by the pandemic.
Last June, and despite the US warning migrants that they will let us through, a caravan of about 15,000 migrants left Mexico for the southern United States on a risky 3,000-kilometer journey. But for them there is nothing to lose.
Diana Fuentes (Guatemala), RFI
ap
Source: Clarin
