Against Sexual Liberty

Maria Irina Mauricio Trellis (El Tiempo, November 25, 2002)

Masters of Aggression

They studied to teach children and young people. The Education Ministry gave them the opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, inside and outside the classroom some of them become a threat, because they sexually abuse or harass their pupils. This is not new: what is new is that now these cases are being dealt with so quickly that the victims no longer remain silent.

It all started when she was thirteen. The Science exercise book she took to school every day always had a note next to the mark: “Hello”, “I want to sleep with you”, “I want to look after you”. The notes were not from a friend or a boyfriend, they were from her teacher. The girl never spoke of it to her parents or anyone else. This year the notes stopped, but in June one day, as she was coming out of her family’s greenhouse, she was intercepted by her teacher. He kicked her to the ground and the man who had been her teacher became her assailant. He left her later in the fields, threatening to kill her if she reported him.

This girl did report him. Her father testified before the justice of the peace. The teacher tried to stop the case by promising to marry the girl after divorcing his wife. Reporting the crime only made things worse for the girl, as she had to suffer additional abuse from the teacher’s wife, who accused the girl of causing the assault.

After a long and distressing process, the Ministry recommended that the case be referred to the Education Affairs Procurator for charges to be brought against the teacher and for the case to be brought before the Administrative Processes Committee for its ruling.

But this is just one of many such stories in the files of the Education Department. The cases follow a similar pattern. First, the rapist (teacher) approaches the pupil in a friendly manner, he gives her presents, speaks to her of his “feelings” and on being rejected, resorts to sexual violence. Other cases have been found in the school in the Pueblo Nuevo village in the Frias district, the Tupac Amaru de Frias secondary school in Ayabaca, Antonio Raymondi de Huarochiri in Chalaco, the Yamango (Morropon) village school, Mariscal Ramon Castilla School in Castilla, and Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Piura), among others.

Rural areas are worst affected, especially in the Andes. According to Rolando Huancas, legal adviser at the Ministry of Education, there are cases in which the parents report the incident and then withdraw the report because the rapist promises to marry the victim, and hence the Ministry is informing people of the fact that such sexual offences are a crime.

Pain Shared

Rape does not just hurt the child and family, but also the child’s classmates.

Celia Namuche Flores believes that the school friends of sexual violence victims must also be given counselling. They begin by feeling pity. They do not understand why such a thing has happened to a friend of theirs. Classmates can also treat the raped child as if s/he were “strange”, others treat them kindly, are more friendly to them, and lend them their things more often. “Expressions of affection are good up to a point, but not always, for example when victims are asked how it happened. This is bad, because the memory can lead victims into a depression, a crisis or to leave school out of embarrassment at the way others look at them. In this case it is better to work with all the children in the class and give them information about how to help a friend who has been raped”.

New Story, Old Story

Although “this is an old story in the Education Sector”, what is changing according to Roland Huancas, legal adviser, is that now there are more reports made. According to Mr. Huancas, of the approximately 400 reports awaiting review, nearly 30% concern sexual harassment, rape by teachers or by people who are not involved in the education system but have been reported to the Education Ministry by parents since the victim is a minor.

In view of the rising number of reports, the Ministry of Education has reacted by issuing a resolution that these cases should be given priority. This means that they cannot be kept waiting for a year or gathering dust. Once the report has been made, the assailant is removed from the staff and in co-ordination with the Family Courts, the case is considered in two different channels.

“Directives for this issue have changed drastically this year. The procedure is very fast and gives a period of 24 hours for the investigation. As soon as the event is reported, the teacher must be removed from the school and await the decision of the director of the Education Authority. It is almost impossible to comply with this procedure because various versions have to be compared, certificates requested, but this is what the regulation requires and we try to keep to it” he said.

The Education sector has started a nation-wide free telephone service for making reports from any part of the country.