An Intergovernmental Government was formed in 1998 under the United Nations to draft legislation that would directly address and combat transnational crime. By 2000 they had drafted the Palermo Protocol which outlined the three P’s: Prevention-Protection-Prosecution aimed at combating human trafficking (Partnership came later).
Throughout the world, women and children are at greater risk than men, the unequal rights of women world-wide places them in vulnerable positions to become victims. Of the world’s 20 million exploited people, only 1.9 million come from Latin America. The Asian Pacific Region has the highest number at 11.7 million and the Middle East the lowest with just 600,000 victims.
In comparison to the cities, local areas like Tepehua have very little evidence of human trafficking as most sexual abuse of children takes place in the home. The homes are overcrowded, the inhabitants lack education and, since they qualify for very few jobs, most of the family is at home all day with time on their hands. Teenage girls that parents cannot afford to send to school become very early victims at the hands of brothers, uncles and fathers, who besotted with alcohol, make choices they regret later. Booze and drugs are the solace for the frustration of lack of labor.
Although this abuse is still a number one problem in the homes, it is changing with education and the right choices. There is a long way to go but it is happening and the people of the barrios are looking for change. As the Internet makes pornography easier for the evil to spread, so does it make it easier for people to see there is another way of living. It comes with knowledge. Everyone has a TV no matter how poor. TV’s, computers, telephones and cell phones all can be found in the local dumps of a throw-away society, and the poor are entrepreneurs and fixer- uppers. Nothing is wasted. From the dark side pictured above there is huge promise.
Giving the people the right tools they can take the path to a better life through knowledge, no matter how brutal that knowledge can be. It takes courage to ask for help and courage to give it, to commit to it. But if you look at history, change is all based on people helping people. Local governments seem to be the cause and not the cure.
Once change is instigated, it is like a rolling stone. There is no turning back especially for the young, who are very resilient. They have to be because life in poverty can be very raw.
Lakeside Chapala, where the living is easy…even if you are poor, you have the sun, fruits growing which everyone can share, and you can live outside most of the time under an incredible sky. At this time of the year in the distance you can hear in the evening the impatient grumblings of storms to come as Spring leads us into the rainy season. We celebrate water here as we celebrate the sun…and it is we the people who dirty our nests, so let’s clean them up ourselves.
Spring is a new beginning…..
For more information about Lake Chapala visit: www.chapala.com
- Profiling Tepehua – January 2024 - December 26, 2023
- Profiling Tepehua – December 2023 - November 30, 2023
- Profiling Tepehua – November 2023 - October 31, 2023
