{"id":1908,"date":"2016-03-06T22:31:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T06:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=1908&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2016-03-16T06:10:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T14:10:43","slug":"the-silent-wounds-of-guatemalas-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/the-silent-wounds-of-guatemalas-youth\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The silent wounds of  Guatemala\u2019s youth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A few days ago I visited a community an hour and a half from Quetzaltenango. We arrived by car on a remote and unsafe path. While one of my coworkers facilitated a workshop, I asked a young participant to guide me to a nearby waterfall that I\u2019d heard was beautiful. While we followed trails that wound through coffee fields, my guide told me about his community. I was shocked at the magnitude of the violence there. In several nearby communities two gangs, the Mara Salvatrucha and the Mara 18, fight for territory. Both gangs are made up mostly of children and teenagers. This situation, according to my guide, has exacerbated the violence and insecurity in a place where, for example, neighbors have found children\u2019s dismembered bodies and it\u2019s common to see teens fighting with machetes and guns. This same day we were told that one of the girls we were working with had been raped. Do we truly understand the reality of Guatemala\u2019s children and adolescents?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Malnutrition, child labor, and high rates of assault are the most common problems facing Guatemala\u2019s youth. According to UNICEF, in 2014 21 cases of assault and sexual violence and 19 cases of physical abuse were reported daily in Guatemala. Also in 2014, the Public Ministry registered 1,371 cases of sexual violence against minors. That\u2019s a monthly average of 114 cases. The Ministry of Public Health and Public Assistance (MSPAS), meanwhile, reported that 99 girls died of sexual violence in the first half of 2014 alone. That implies that 200 girls die every year here from sexual violence. These figures do not include the high numbers of unreported crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The situation of girls and young women also faces other aggravators. According to the MSPAS, 30% of Guatemalan girls will lose their virginity with a close relative: a father, stepfather, brother, uncle, cousin. Further, the country has normalized marriage and pregnancy at an early age, both of which are on the rise. The Office for Food Security and Nutrition (SESAN) registered more than 27,000 pregnant minors in the first half of 2014, and 50% of them were chronically malnourished. The National Register of Persons (RENAP), meanwhile, recognized 13,794 weddings of youths between 14 and 18 years old from 2009 to 2013. Even though civil society groups have written reform bills, like the one that would amend the Civil Code, these bills can\u2019t find approval in Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The role of the state is fundamental in the protection of children\u2019s rights, but the data tell us clearly that what is being done is not enough. According to UNICEF, the Guatemalan government invests only Q5.22 (around $.68) per day to cover the needs of each child: health, education, housing, safety, etc. Meanwhile, holistic policies to address not only direct violence but also cultural and structural violence are nonexistent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Concerned about my guide\u2019s stories, I wondered what the collective soul must be like of a society so violent that it appears to have normalized the silenced wound that spreads within its youth. On my way back, I thought of the important efforts of civil society to transform this silence through support to victims, strengthening reporting practices, etc. But without a clear and holistic commitment from the state it\u2019s difficult to maintain processes of social change. Even so, inspired by the beauty of this place and its people, I feel sure that, alongside violence, a gorgeous poetry also blooms.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few days ago I visited a community an hour and a half from Quetzaltenango. We arrived by car on a remote and unsafe path. While one of my coworkers facilitated a workshop, I asked a young participant to guide me to a nearby waterfall that I\u2019d heard was beautiful. While we followed trails that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[453,429,1,438],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-frontpage-en","category-health","category-uncategorized","category-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/img_9458.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-uM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4319,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/youth\/association-for-creativity-and-development-in-guatemala-acd\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":0},"title":"Association for Creativity and Development in Guatemala (ACD)","author":"EntreMundos","date":"30 julio, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Association for Creativity and Development in Guatemala is a not-for-profit organization based on Christian values which are part of life in Western Guatemala.\u00a0 It\u2019s mission is to work in areas of conflict, in support of children and adolescents in vulnerable conditions, gang violence, crime and the risk of migration. Its\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abYouth\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Youth","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/youth\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/portada-lucia-munoz.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/portada-lucia-munoz.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/portada-lucia-munoz.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/portada-lucia-munoz.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9662,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/we-are-the-truth-the-voice-and-journey-of-achi-women\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":1},"title":"We are the truth: The voice and journey of ach\u00ed women","author":"EntreMundos","date":"22 marzo, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Cristina Chiqu\u00edn In Rabinal, the women began to talk about what had happened to their bodies. Remembering war is not an easy thing, as the pain of past wounds doesn\u2019t come just from watching people die or communities disappear. War had touched all of them: both the mothers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abWomen\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Women","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/women\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_8100-clara-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_8100-clara-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_8100-clara-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_8100-clara-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_8100-clara-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4314,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/youth\/young-activists-fighting-for-social-change\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":2},"title":"YOUNG ACTIVISTS FIGHTING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE","author":"EntreMundos","date":"30 julio, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world to be an activist.\u00a0 12 people who were fighting for the defense of human rights were murdered in the region in 2017, this is 67.9% of the total worldwide (312), according to the NGO Front Line Defenders.\u00a0 That is, two\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abYouth\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Youth","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/youth\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/img_6811-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3258,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/youth\/the-dangerous-odysseys-of-the-children-who-seek-the-gates-of-paradise\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":3},"title":"The dangerous odysseys of the children who seek the \u00abGates of Paradise\u00bb","author":"EntreMundos","date":"12 agosto, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Diana Pastor and Antonio Hern\u00e1ndez Something has gone very wrong in a country whose children flee in search of a better life. In his book The Gates of Paradise, Polish author Jerzy Andrzejewsk narrates the journey of a group of European children, who, after one is struck by a\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/las-puertas-del-paraiso-antonio-hernandez.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/las-puertas-del-paraiso-antonio-hernandez.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/las-puertas-del-paraiso-antonio-hernandez.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/las-puertas-del-paraiso-antonio-hernandez.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/las-puertas-del-paraiso-antonio-hernandez.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12485,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/colomba-bullets-and-coffee\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":4},"title":"Colomba: Bullets and Coffee","author":"EntreMundos","date":"13 noviembre, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"TRANSLATED BY JONATHAN LOTT I will never forget my first visit to Colomba Costa Cuca in Quetzaltenango. It was a Tuesday, and I arrived around ten in the morning. On my way to the town center, I encountered a loud jukebox energizing a cantina that was nearly full of young\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/opcion-portada-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/opcion-portada-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/opcion-portada-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/opcion-portada-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/opcion-portada-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10506,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/no-more\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":1908,"position":5},"title":"No more","author":"EntreMundos","date":"8 marzo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"ENTREMUNDOS\u00a0 On December 15, 2022, under the floor of an abandoned building in Zona 18 of Guatemala City, seven bodies were found in a hidden grave. Municipal firefighters, not forensics specialists, were tasked with recovering the bones. As is the case in many violent areas of Guatemala, Public Ministry staff\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/324591397_469538418710038_1465800098528171606_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/324591397_469538418710038_1465800098528171606_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/324591397_469538418710038_1465800098528171606_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/324591397_469538418710038_1465800098528171606_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/324591397_469538418710038_1465800098528171606_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1909,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908\/revisions\/1909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}