Marked for life

Gloria* (a fictitious name used to protect her identity) is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Guatemala City with her twin brother and her parents. When she was 11, she was sexually abused in a place where something like this should never have happened: the school she attended. The trust she had in her teachers was shattered forever. Even more profoundly, her ability to trust any adult was broken.

Guatemala is one of the most violent countries in the world, affecting children’s lives and development. Every day in Guatemala, 23 cases of sexual abuse against girls and adolescent girls are reported, and six babies are born to girls under the age of 14 as a result of rape. Many cases of abuse and rape are never reported and remain unpunished. Public institutions and social protection systems remain very weak.

Just two years ago, Gloria was a very different child from the way she feels today: confident and happy at home and at the school she attended alongside her brother. Passionate about art, Gloria painted pictures dreaming that one day she could become a famous artist.

Her problems began when a conflict arose between Gloria and some of her classmates, who bullied her. This caused her to become more withdrawn and insecure. When her parents noticed these changes, they spoke with the school principal to learn more about what was happening and find ways to support their daughter. Gloria’s vulnerability did not go unnoticed by the school authorities, who immediately put in place a special support plan. With the school taking this action, Gloria’s parents felt reassured.

However, shortly afterward, the same teacher assigned to support Gloria took advantage of the private counseling sessions to sexually abuse her repeatedly, in the very classrooms of the school. The school principal discovered what had happened but did not report it. Worse still, the principal also abused Gloria, further destroying her childhood and dignity, as well as her trust and that of her entire family.

Her father says that, at first, he considered taking justice into his own hands, but ultimately chose to respect the law and allow it to take its course. Even so, it has been a slow and emotionally exhausting process for the family, especially for Gloria, who moves between moments of calm and gradual recovery and others in which she becomes depressed and cries, leaving the entire family with a deep sense of sadness and helplessness.

Her mother not only feels deep pain for what they did to her daughter but is also convinced that they were deceived. She says, “My daughter was going to school to learn, and they took away that right, both from her and from those of us who trusted the institution and made the financial effort that this entails. “She had the right to study, to be happy, to be a girl, they took all this away from her.” 

In an outburst of rage, Gloria says, “I wish that all those responsible would go to prison to pay for the harm they caused me, because they knew it was something bad.” 

Gloria also says that she would like informative talks on sexual abuse to be given in schools. “If they had told me what sexual abuse is, I would have known how to act, but they never came, they never explained it to me. I didn’t know what to do, whether to speak out or remain silent, and I was very scared.” 

Gloria's story illustrates the plight of hundreds and thousands of girls, boys and adolescents who must be protected against all types of abuse and violence before these things happen because otherwise, the entire society fails by acting too late. 

UNICEF and its partners support the State of Guatemala in the prevention, detection, protection and comprehensive specialized care of girls, boys and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse, ensuring the full restitution of their rights and their physical, psychosocial, spiritual and moral recovery, as well as the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators. 

As a result of joint work, a special Prosecutor's Office has been established to report and punish these crimes. In addition, Gesell chambers have been installed in various institutions of the justice system to reduce revictimization, and psychosocial care systems for victims have been strengthened. 

Gloria is currently undergoing psychological treatment and is slowly going back to being the happy and motivated girl she was some time ago. The permanent scar that she will bear for life is having discovered in the worst possible way that she cannot openly trust anyone. 

Oddly, despite this tragedy, Gloria's story has a positive side, since she discovered a new vocation through her difficult experience: she wants to become a psychologist to help other victims of painful events, as well as, of course, continue painting, which she never abandoned, even in her darkest moments. 

Every time we protect a girl from sexual abuse and violence, there is hope.