Break the Chains of Slavery

Alicia* is from a poor town in the department of Escuintla, Guatemala. She started working from a young age to help her parents so she was never able to go to school. At the age of 9 she went out with her mom to sell tortillas and earn a living. As she got older she noticed that her parents had a hard time finding work and she had to look for work to earn more income for the family.

When Alicia was 14 years old she had traveled to the center of Escuintla and at about 10 in the morning on her way back to her house two men pulled her into a car and drugged her. Alicia doesn’t remember exactly what happened after that. The only thing that she remembers is that after drugging her the men took her to a vacant lot and raped her. When the men were done with her they left her near her house.

When she arrived home her mom asked her what had happened and Alicia was ashamed and didn’t want to tell her what had happened. However, a few hours later she worked up the courage to tell her mom that she had been raped. Alicia´s mom was surprised by what had happened to her daughter but there wasn’t much that they could do about it. Alicia shut herself in the house for several weeks. She didn’t want to leave because the neighbors made fun of her for what had happened to her. ITEMP learned about the case and started to help Alicia. First they made sure she had psychological care and then they took her to be examined by a doctor to make sure she was physically healthy. She was later helped with clothes, shoes and was given some economic help.

Alicia continues to receive medical, psychological and other support from the project. She has a job and helps with the costs at home.

*Name changed to protect child’s identity