3-year-old girls infected with HIV: outrage in Peru over the more than 1,000 victims of child sexual abuse who have not been served by justice

3-year-old girls infected with HIV": the outrage in Peru over the more than 1,000 victims of child sexual abuse who have not been served by justice - Author, Alejandro Millán Valencia - Author's title, BBC News Mundo - Publication date - Reading time: 8 min "Girls with children who evidently had not processed everything that had happened to them". That image, of a minor with a child, was one of the most impactful for Mónica Maureira during her visit to the province of Condorcanqui, in the Peruvian Amazon. Maureira traveled there as part of a delegation from the Experts Committee of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention (Mesecvi) to prevent violence against women in Latin America, attached to the Organization of American States (OAS). In that area where about 70,000 members of the Awajún and Wampis communities reside, a problem is recorded that has raised the alerts of experts and activists: since 2014, nearly 1,000 reports related to sexual abuse of minors, touching, and gender-based violence that have not been addressed by Peruvian justice. (Some entities indicate that it could amount to 1,400 cases). This has led to an epidemic of HIV infections among minors (even in 3 and 4-year-old boys and girls), dozens of teenage pregnancies, and a mental health crisis that manifests in an increase in attempted suicides among adolescents in these communities. "When we arrived, we learned about the case of a young woman who had tried to kill herself by drinking shampoo, and when we left, they informed us of another case," Maureira tells BBC Mundo. The main complaint was filed by the Ombudsman's Office in 2024, when it gathered serious testimonies about what was happening in the educational centers of the province, located in northern Peru. In that report, the entity indicated that at least 500 cases of sexual harassment had been registered in the schools with a majority Awajún and Wampi. The complaint came from a collective outcry, in a campaign led by one person: Rosemary Pioc, president of the Council of Awajún and Wampi Women. "Those complaints have cost the women of this community a lot, who are the ones who have tried to care for our girls," explains Pioc to BBC Mundo from northern Peru. "But we are alone: the Peruvian judicial system simply says it does not have a budget to serve us. To hear the complaints and punish those responsible," she adds. The complaints made by the Ombudsman's Office have led the Peruvian Judiciary to summon Mesecvi, in mid-year, to review the situation. "The first thing I observed personally was how alone the girls were in this part of the country. They go to school alone. They are at home alone," explains Maureira. And she adds: "At the institutional level, the first thing we noticed is that it was a problem that went much beyond the schools. It was a structural issue that affected all women, especially the girls and adolescents of the community." Visit and Conclusions Both in the report of the Mesecvi commission and in the Ombudsman's office of Peru and the Council of Awajún and Wampi Women, there are several points of agreement about the problem of sexual abuse in the region. The first refers to the absence of the judicial apparatus in the area to process the cases and establish sanctions for the crimes committed. "If people who abuse girls, touch them, are not punished, the situation normalizes and does not stop," points out Pioc. According to Pioc, there is no permanent presence of judges, and in cases where a magistrate reaches the territory they inhabit, there are no other officials to complement the process or know indigenous matters to apply justice properly. And she gives an example of what happened with the most known cases: those from the schools. According to the Ombudsman's Office report, most of the nearly 170 teachers accused of sexual abuse of minors in this region have not been processed; many of them were acquitted and the rest, the local authorities transferred them, allowing them to evade ordinary justice. According to Peruvian laws, sexual crimes and abuse of minors include prison sentences of between three and four years. "Here we have another problem, that many communities are governed by a local system: the aggressor is caught, he is punished with a jail or beatings and that's it. We are trying to change that with the leaders," points out Pioc. "But it is necessary for the Peruvian government to allocate the necessary resources so that justice can work," she adds. Although BBC Mundo contacted representatives of the judicial branch of Peru without receiving a response before the publication of this note, the truth is that it is the power itself that has accepted that it has very limited resources to meet the needs of the northern region. At the end of last year, when the budget issue was discussed for the last time, the government stated to Congress that they only have 19% of what they really need to face the criminal plagues in the entire country. "Investment in justice is not an expense, it is a guarantee of stability and predictability for the country, and that the millions in the budget must be fully addressed to be able to fulfill our mission of administering justice," said Janet Tello, president of the Supreme Court of Justice of Peru, to justify the request to increase the budget before Congress. HIV Outbreak The consequences of the abuses go beyond the crimes, she points out in Mesecvi, and the impact on health is one of the most serious situations: "There are 3 or 4-year-old girls who have the HIV virus. Girls to whom the virus was transmitted through sexual abuse," Maureira notes. "And the lack of attention to this situation brings a series of consequences, not only in public health, but also a devastating effect on mental health," she adds. For her part, Pioc points out that the problem is even more serious: "It is not just the girls, it is entire families with HIV, without being able to receive any health care." According to the Ministry of Health of Peru, between 2014 and 2026, 190 cases of people infected with HIV have been registered in these communities, in the ages of 14 to 19 years. At the regional level, the available data indicate that there is an HIV prevalence of 1.8%, six times higher than in other regions of the country - in figures that cover the entire province of Condorcanqui, not only the area where the indigenous communities live. "But there are many more that have not been counted because, again, there are no resources to even make the diagnoses," Pioc denounces. However, according to the Ministry of Health, a medical emergency has already been declared in the area to care for the minors. But both Pioc and Maureira and the members of the Mesevic commission pointed to BBC Mundo that it is necessary to design a comprehensive care plan for the minors in which, above all, stigmatization is avoided. And they emphasize this issue because, among the cases of sexual abuse and HIV infection, a mental health crisis has been recorded among minors, especially girls and adolescents, which worries the community. "The cases of suicide of minors is something I saw with concern. They told us of multiple suicide attempts by girls who had been raped or sexually abused," Maureira points out. "And we had to witness at least two attempts. It is very delicate and needs urgent attention." Solutions For Pioc, there are two fundamental aspects that must be resolved promptly: the increase in the budget to address reports of sexual abuse and the construction of a shelter for victims of this type of sexual violence. "For now we have a temporary refuge, but we cannot keep the women there for long," she points out. "We need to be able to care for the victims in an integral and sustainable way. Not for a short period," she adds. Many of the victims cannot return to their homes, points out the community leader, either because of the stigma that accompanies them after being abused or due to the infection. Some are transferred to other shelters where no one speaks their language, Awajún, nor knows their problems. For her part, the recommendation of Mesecvi focuses on asking the central government to grant the necessary resources to prosecute those responsible in cases of sexual abuse in the region. "The considerations are very broad and diverse, but there are urgent aspects and perhaps the most important thing is that sufficient resources are granted so that this situation does not become worse than it already is," Maureira concludes. Although there was no response to the attempts to contact the Judiciary and the Ministry of Women of Peru by BBC, the head of this ministry, María Seminario, responded to the local media about the possible solutions the State could provide. "We have received the review of Mesecvi with great expectation, but at the same time with some satisfaction in the line that the report is very in agreement with what we are proposing from the Ministry," Seminario told the Peruvian news chain RPP. "I want to emphasize one of the points that the report highlights: there is no articulation, but rather a fragmented response from the State. That is what we want to consolidate, a joint response from the State," she added. She also pointed out that for the past two weeks, meetings are being held with the idea of providing an integral solution by all branches of the Peruvian government. - Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries, and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new application is not available in the United Kingdom or the United States. - And don't forget to subscribe here to our newsletter to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday.