The teacher Rosemary Pioc, President of the Awajún Women’s Council, denounced this Sunday that three sexual offenders arrested in the province of Condorcanqui (Amazonas) fled due to the inaction of a communal police officer. “Just a few days ago I visited a community where I found three guys who had raped two little sisters, ages 5 and 8. It is incredible that the authorities do not want to enter the communities,” she declared in an interview with Successful.
The prosecutor, according to Pioc, did not intervene in the situation. He tried to talk to the apu (local leader), but neither he nor his authorities nor his board were available. “There was only one communal police officer, and he told us: there are the three prisoners. When we went to look, the dungeon was empty. They had escaped,” he said with indignation.
The teacher also revealed that a girl residing in Río Santiago, one of the three districts that make up Condorcanqui along with El Cenepa and Nieva, is forced to become pregnant after a rape and is unlikely to access therapeutic abortion, despite the fact that the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) considers a forced pregnancy as torture.
“Far from the minister calling supposed leaders of the organizations to Lima, this man who is incapable should come to solve the problem in the territory. “It is outrageous that they are calling people who do not represent us,” he noted.
The leader made a strong request to the president Dina Boluarte to remove the head of Education, Morgan Quero, and appoint a new official with whom they can talk. “We are going to start the march in Bagua. Chiriaco’s brothers are joining in, this is going to be resounding,” he stated.
Pioc also denounced the complicity and passivity of some local and educational authorities. “They are not only Awajún [los docentes perpetradores], they also come from outside. The UGEL [Unidad de Gestión Educativa Local] You have a man who, in his position, files disappear, and until now they still have them. That [funcionario] It is solving the problems,” he concluded.
After considering that sexual assaults in Amazonas are “cultural practices,” Quero met this week with indigenous leaders Romer Orrego and Raquel Caicat, who, according to Pioc, do not represent the Awajún people. A report of The Republic reveals that from 2010 to June 19 of this year, 532 complaints of sexual abuse committed by teachers and assistants have been registered.
The victims were minors between 5 and 17 years old, some of whom contracted HIV. This week alone, the UGEL of Condorcanqui and the Permanent Commission of Disciplinary Administrative Processes for Teachers (CPPADD) reported eight new cases. Of the total number of those reported, five are appointed teachers and 526 are contracted —213 taught in primary school and 246 in secondary school; 112 have been dismissed, 73 acquitted, 55 are under investigation, 21 have been reinstated and 4 have been temporarily dismissed.
In addition, nine cases have been filed and 198 have expired. Alarmingly, 165 teachers prosecuted for alleged sexual harassment continue to work in schools in native communities. José Martínez Adanaqué, president of the CPPADD of the UGEL Condorcanqui, told the newspaper that only one lawyer handles the 532 complaints of sexual assault due to the lack of budget, interest and support from the State.
Likewise, Judge Elvia Barrios, president of the Specialized National System of Justice against Gender Violence (SNEJ), indicated that the lack of resources prevents the proper functioning of this entity in Amazonas. For this reason, the Special Commission for the Protection of Children and the Commission of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Peoples have summoned the Minister of Education and Women, Ángela Teresa Hernández, to report on the measures adopted.
