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Bolivia: Nomads in concrete plains

By Liliana Aguirre F.

La Paz.- Traditionally involved in hunting and collection, the ayoreos –a nomadic group in a Bolivian low-lying area- left the jungle for the city of Santa Cruz, 888 kilometers away from La Paz. There, they are forced to go begging or engage in prostitution.

This migration flow began in 1970, when their territories of origin, which had been freely inhabited by their ancestors, were taken over by landowners and cattle raisers. The ayoreos are obliged to work as slaves in plantations.

This, along with marginalization, has turned these human beings into nomads trying to survive in concrete plains.

Studies by the organization Support for Indigenous Peasants in Eastern Bolivia indicated that 335 ayoreos live on the outskirts of Santa Cruz, under poverty conditions, with no basic services available. They share small rooms made of clay walls and thatched roofs.

Women engage in prostitution for merely ten Bolivian pesos (1.25 dollars). This only covers one-day staple food. The local society rejects this ethnic group and believes its members are stupid and lazy.

The ayoreos do not have a western way of thinking. As they do not have the same concept about daily work, they are discriminated against, said Marcos Michel, director of the Bolivian Anthropological and Archeological Research Institute.

I came looking for a better life, but people here are bad and do not want us to stay, stressed an ayoreo woman who asked not to be identified.

The only thing I have found in the city is disease. Apparently, it was hard work that made me catch pneumonia. "I am always coughing and my daughters have not made enough money to take me to a doctor", she regretted.

Out of the total number of ayoreo women involved in prostitution, 52 percent are in the 13- to 21-year bracket and 48 percent in the 31- to 40-year group.

The problems they usually face include street violence, drug consumption and venereal diseases. The latter are negatively affecting the entire ethnic group because its members often marry among themselves.

"We have no health care because we have no money to pay for it. We do not look for men; they look for us. My niece got gonorrhea, but was cured with some plants", said Dolores Gutambarai.

Uruguay: Illegal child adoptions on the upswing

By Ángela Castellanos

Montevideo.- Víctor Giorgi, president of the Uruguayan Children and Teenagers Institute, indicated that there is children trafficking in the country. Over 40 percent of the couples interested in adopting children get them through non-institutional channels.

Last year, 44 children were given in adoption, including three newborns. The announcement was made by the Institute’s Legitimization and Adoption Department. In the past, the average had been 15 to 30 children a year.

We are not speaking only of sale, but also of a constant flow and supply of children in adoption, outside the established legal system, Giorgi told media representatives in late May.

The Institute is the government agency in charge of children adoption. The Christian Family Movement is implementing another adoption program under the umbrella of the state. The legal provisions for these institutions to operate have been questioned by MPs, NGOs and even government officials.

Passed in December 2004, the Children and Teenagers Code has complicated the arrangements to be made by adopters. This has encouraged illegal seeking and sale operations.

The steps now include registration, clinical record, income certificate, visits by social workers and interviews. After these arrangements are completed, applications are reviewed. If they are finally accepted, applicant names are included on a waiting list.

When a woman goes on a fertility treatment, she is not asked so much. However, when a woman wants to become an adoptive mother, she is. The waiting can take over a year, said Alejandra, a local applicant.

Institute officials say that children’s rights should be respected and enforced by the State. Government officials believe, nonetheless, that there is a need to review the Code’s chapter on adoption because statistical data show there is a problem.

Margarita Percovich, a senator representing the Wide Front Party in power, has been working along these lines.

As 50 percent of the children adopted through the government come from marginalized families, Percovich’s proposal is to prevent families from separating for economic reasons.

Uruguay: Primiparas on the upswing

By Ángela Castellanos

Montevideo.– The average age for Uruguayan women to have children is 19 years. This came from a National Expanded Household Survey that was recently conducted by the National Institute of Statistics.

When respondents were asked the question: At what age do women in the 14- to 49-year bracket have their first children?, most of them said at 19. There was no major difference between those living in the capital and those in the countryside. The latter said that at 18, however.

There were significant differences by social groups. In Montevideo, 11.2 percent of high-class women had their first children when they were 18 to 20 years, as compared to 32.2 percent of low-class, 25.6 percent of middle-to-low class and 17.2 of middle-to-high class women.

Over 95 percent of the women in the 14- to 20-year bracket who have already had their first children do not have permanent couples. Out of five percent of women who have couples, only 13.8 percent are legally married.

Single women who get pregnant at an early age reproduce the poverty cycle, stop studying, join the labor market (usually the informal one) and suffer from social discrimination.

Early pregnancy is a reality in the Uruguayan capital. Doctors at Pereira Rossell Gyneco-obstetric Hospital see young, single, pregnant women on a daily basis. They show up only when they are in labor to make sure their families know of their condition only at this point.

Dr. Roberto Sergio, head of the teenage mothers ward at the hospital, said that 25 percent of pregnant women are primiparas aged 16 or 17.

Pregnancy in girls under 15 years of age is very dangerous because they usually suffer from high-blood pressure and have low-weight babies. Although girls over that age are biologically prepared for this experience, they take psychological risks because they are not always supported by their families and couples.

While there are no studies about the growing number of young girls getting pregnant, early sexual relations are one of the main causes behind it. According to Latin American Initiative, an NGO specialized in youth affairs, half of young boys and one fourth of young girls have their first sexual experiences when they are 14.

In Uruguay, every woman has two children on average. Teenage mothers tend to have more. One every eight young girls has her second child one year after the first. This can negatively affect her health condition.

Mexico: Hindrances to legal abortion

By Sara Lovera

Mexico City.- Paulina del Carmen Ramírez is about to turn 21. She was raped when she was 13 and is still awaiting compensation from the local authorities, which did not allow her to have abortion. The Mexican legislation grants this right in cases of sexual aggression.

Born in the state of Oaxaca, Ramírez and her mother had made such a request to the authorities. The Ministry of Justice agreed to it, but public health institutions in Baja California denied it. Her child was born on April 14, 2000.

"We fought hard, but the baby was finally born", Silvia Reséndiz told WFS. She is a representative of feminist organization Alaíde Foppa. "We now want the government to comply with the recently signed Friendly Settlement Agreement", she added.

The document was penned in March 2006 by the federal and local governments on the one hand and the organizations defending Paulina on the other. The authorities undertook to indemnify her, not violate this human right any longer and support the boy’s health care and education until he comes of age or completes his formal training.

There has been no progress along these lines so far, and Ramírez has launched a new public campaign.

Under moral reparation, she was admitted at a special program and granted some money to establish a business. She has not been given the license she needs to actually open it.

The Inter-American Human Rights Commission got involved in this case, which set an example for the struggle aimed at respecting the right to abortion in legal situations, Lilián Sepúlveda told WFS.

She is an advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

The most important things about the Friendly Settlement Agreement were the recognition of a human rights violation and the commitment to amending the Criminal Code in Baja California. "This will pave the way for legal abortion. Relevant amendments are still pending", Reséndiz regretted.

"We often know of raped, pregnant girls and women whose right to legal abortion is denied", she stressed.

"Justice administration and health care staff should be further trained so that they can raise their awareness and avoid unfortunate situations", she noted.

"If we do not follow up a raped, pregnant woman case and put pressure, the victim is not able to resort to abortion", she emphasized.

Facts

Illegal abortion poses a serious health problem in Mexico, especially for poor women. As it is generically considered a crime, many women have abortions performed under poor hygienic conditions.

Illegal abortion is the third major cause of mother death. Although there are exceptions in the law, the legal procedure is extremely difficult to follow.

A recent survey by the National Population Council indicated that 19 percent of pregnant women have, at some point, had induced abortions. There is one abortion every 21 births. This accounts for 533,100 every year.

Four years ago, the Committee for the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recommended that Mexico should consider the possibility of legalizing abortion, review state laws and provide teenagers with sex education. Illegal practice in the country has reached alarming proportions, it concluded. The national government has failed to do what it has been asked to do.

Restrictive legislation

Abortion remains legally restrictive in Mexico. Most state legislation ways back to the 1930s and has not been reviewed to provide for legal, safe abortion.

Rape is a legally accepted cause for this practice in 31 states, including the Federal District. It is forbidden in Guanajuato.

Eleven states do not authorize abortion when women’s negligence is said to occur; ten states allow it in cases of genetic malformation; eight states permit it when mother health is at jeopardy; and seven states agree to it when illegal artificial insemination procedures have been applied. In Yucatan, abortion is permitted when a mother has three children (for economic reasons).

Although some states have adopted reforms seeking to increase the number of abortion causes, most of them have not regulated access (even when it is provided for under the law).

As there are no clear administrative guidelines, especially for rape cases, this reproductive right is difficult to enforce. It is contained in legislation only in the Federal District, Morelos and Baja California Sur.

Legal framework

A study in seven Mexican states showed that public servants usually hinder access by rape victims to information and care. It was conducted by Human Rights Watch in Baja California, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Yucatan.

Public servants deny the occurrence of rape pregnancy cases, do not heed raped women testimonies and oppose their right to abortion, the report indicated.

Out of eight Human Rights Watch-documented reported cases in states where abortion is not legal, only two women were informed about legal abortion. They were not told, however, how to proceed. One of them ended up having an illegal abortion.

RECUADRO

Migration: Happiness has never made a novel

By Mirta Rodríguez Calderón

Santo Domingo.– The title for this piece has been taken from a statement made by Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado and is very relevant when the most sordid aspect of migration in today’s world is addressed.

In early September, a Dominican newspaper featured, on one single day, three articles under the following headlines: A new group of illegal emigrants is arrested in Puerto Rico; The local Prosecutor’s Office investigates human trafficking from Cuba; and Immigrants demonstrate in the U.S.

A report by the United Nations Population Fund recently highlighted the risk of crossing borders, difficult migration conditions for women, and immigrant labor over-exploitation in recipient countries. Immigrants account for three percent of world population.

All this is true. But migration also provides a window to the world, a space to open wings and fly to a destination from where it will be possible to help relatives left in the country of origin.

Remittances by Latin American immigrants living or surviving in the First World are the second major foreign currency source to these countries. This is the case of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

There is not much statistical information available in the region, however. The United Nations Public Information Department advanced some interesting data a few weeks ago. Ibrahim Awad, director of the International Labor Organization’s World Migration Programme, made the announcement:

Last year, official remittances were estimated at 160 billion dollars and unofficial remittances at 250 billion. "These moneys helped improve human capital and development in countries of origin", he added.

Illegal immigrants, wet backs, intruders and criminals are some of the terms used by American retardatory groups to refer to migrants in the United States.

Meanwhile, remittances, dispatches, contributions and allowances are the words used to refer to the money sent by immigrants to relatives and friends they left behind.

They can include a Haitian man working as a stonecutter or cocoa collector and a Haitian woman selling fritters in the Dominican Republic, a young Arab woman doing sexual work in Barcelona, an Algerian making way for herself in France, and a Moroccan or Ecuadorian questioning the system and making nationals feel uncomfortable in Italy.

An immigrant and MP in Italy

Mercedes Frías was born in the Dominican Republic, but has been living and working in Italy for over a decade. She is a Member of Parliament (MP), elected by the Socialist Re-foundation Party last April. She is a founding member of the Immigration Chair at the University of Venice and an outstanding personality in Florence. Her views are based on practical experience.

Foreigners are human beings who tend to question the society where they arrive. The relationship between newcomers and nationals is founded on the notion that nobody gives power away; that it has to be seized.

Women experience some time of confrontation at the beginning because of the differences between natives and foreigners. "Under the power structure in place, they are the managers and we are the workers", she told WFS.

Most immigrants in Italy work as domestics, babysitting other people’s children and leaving their own children with the grandmother or aunt. They work 24 hours a day, so they have no time left for anything else. Some of them are involved in human trafficking and find it difficult to get out of it.

We have worked hard to promote women’s solidarity and defense.

When she refers to her case being included on the eligible list and her doing extremely well in Italy, Frías is both dramatic and humorous: "Being black and migrant, I make news"…

Sexual work empowers most immigrant women

Europeans usually have negative views about migrants because they fear that newcomers will take something away from them. They look at their turf as a possession. This is the opinion of Cristina Blanco Gual, a Catalonian nurse and anthropologist who is member of LICIT (Research and Cooperation Line for Immigrant Sexual Workers) in Barcelona.

Hers is not an apocalyptic view. "Migrants are people who embark on their projects with some power, because they have managed to raise some money before they decide to move somewhere else", she added.

Many migrant prostitutes from Arab countries and eastern European nations like Russia, Albania and Romania, look at sexual work as a business that is more profitable than babysitting or domestic service.

"They usually make money, pay for professional training and get out of that world some time later", she commented.

"They want to help their families. An Albanian friend of mine has helped her brother establish a business in his country. Most migrant women get trained and manage their own businesses", she told WFS.

Families and friends in countries of origin hold them in high esteem, because they send them money. Migration flows will not end because poverty is there and everyone knows of somebody who has managed to make his/her dream come true. People have the right to look for a better life.

Uprooted plants

Helena Disse is a French health technologist involved in epidemic control in Reims. She finds a similarity between migrants and uprooted plants.

Last May, third-generation Arab migrants were involved in a riot and set fire to many cars. Most of them have found no opportunities in the country their grandparents re-built after the Second World War and their parents have helped develop.

Disse told WFS that she is concerned about hardened laws and underlying discrimination in these events. Some nationalities have the doors wide open. Thing are easier for Americans, Cubans and South Americans than for other people coming culturally and materially naked.

She added that there is some complicity by those making money out of migration. They do not care about boats sinking. It is contradictory to see that, while we speak of a global village, we narrow the horizons to many people and restrict their opportunities to have a better life. "Despite all this, most of them make it", she noted.

Other corners

It is very genuine for migrants to settle down, succeed, select their representatives, learn to defend themselves and set up solidarity networks in recipient countries.

Under a cloud and with a lump in their throats, they do not speak much of the emotional cost involved and content themselves with making their people feel happy by sending them remittances. They look at a divided sky, but the sky is only one. They look for and, many times, find other corners under the sun.

Don’t we all have the right to look for own sun?

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net