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Colombia: Dealing with HIV-AIDS from a gender perspective

By Ángela Castellanos

Bogotá, July.– A gender approach to HIV-AIDS prevention and care programs should be used to put an end to the feminization of the epidemic. This is one of the recommendations contained in the recently adopted National HIV-AIDS Response Plan for the 2008-2011 period.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and AIDS for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

The number of infected men as compared to infected women in the country has moved from 11.2 in 1985 to 2.8 in 2004, mainly due to transmission over heterosexual relations, as corroborated by UNAIDS-Colombia, the local Ministry of Health, and healthcare and community-based organizations.

This global trend has been seen for several years and is connected with power relations in patriarchal cultures, Camila Ugaña told SEMlac. She is a leader at Guide me, a non-profit organization specializing in sexual and reproductive health. (read more)

Mexico: A national AIDS emergency is demanded

By Alicia Yolanda Reyes

Mexico, July.– If prices for antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for HIV/AIDS patients do not go down, universal access will be in jeopardy. Local prices are up to 200 percent higher in Mexico than in other Latin American and Caribbean nations.

This came from Dr. Patricia Campos, representative of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in the country. "There is practically no investment in this area and the number of patients requiring ARVs will grow in the next three years, she indicated. Mexico will not be able to meet local demand", she anticipated.

In an effort to raise public awareness, 150 activists staged a march in front of the Economy and Health secretariats.

The idea now is to make the federal government declare a national AIDS emergency so that negotiations with transnational ARV manufacturing companies can be successfully held. (read more)

Guatemala: Severe psychological sequels in women suffering from violence

By Alba Trejo

Guatemala, July.- The Guatemalan Foundation of Survivors indicated that local family-violence victims usually suffer from domestic violence syndrome, compulsive behavior, shame and emotional disorders.

Experts at the Foundation conducted a study over 250 abused women and identified around 30 negative personality traits, including low self-esteem, need to control other people’s behavior, and feelings of adaptation inability and/or difficulty.

They examined women who had requested help from the institution, after having endured beatings, rape and verbal aggression.

"We also provide support to relatives of murdered women", Foundation director Norma Cruz told SEMlac. (read more)

Mexico: Care for women suffering from violence

By Sara Lovera

Mexico, July.– When to get out of violence? Elda took 11 years and Yazmín, nine. They are now receiving psychological and legal support, and some money to go on with their lives.

"It is just 1,500 pesos (150 dollars) a month, but it helps cover transportation expenses to make arrangements for divorce, go to the psychologist’s and attend talks that make us feel self-assured", said Elsa.

Yazmín will spend three months at a shelter and then make a final decision (on her marriage).

They are both under a social reintegration program that has been implemented by the local government in the Federal District since last month. (read more)

Boys and girls: Family supporters in Nicaragua

By Sylvia R. Torres

Managua, June.– Children generated 12 percent of overall household income in Nicaragua in 2006. They worked mainly in the informal and agricultural sector. There has been an 8.5-percent increase in such a contribution in the last couple of years.

This information comes from a survey that was commissioned by Save the Children-Norway NGO and was conducted by the International Foundation to Meet the Global Economic Challenge (FIDEG).

Those under 14 should not be allowed to work and those under 16 have a number of restrictions that need to be considered.

Children should study and get trained before they join the labor market, as established in various international agreements, but the truth is that they are replacing adults and helping meet basic family needs in Nicaragua. (read more)

Buenos Aires, June.– "My brothers and I used to go to Tucumán, 1,280 kilometers away from the federal capital, to work in the sugar harvest. The entire family used to work to make more money. I remember how unhappy we all were".

This came from Ely, a 60-year-old woman who spent her childhood going from Santiago del Estero (1,200 kilometers north of Buenos Aires) to Tucumán to work. Her story ways back over 50 years, but the current situation of many children is, unfortunately, quite similar.

Carolina Llanos, secretary of the Argentinean Union of Rural Workers and Stevedores (UATRE), told SEMlac that child labor involves children under 14 years of age doing paid or unpaid work for many hours a day, on a regular basis, and under harmful conditions.

This problem is so deeply rooted that it is often associated with culture. Sociologist Susana Aparicio conducted a study showing that 13.3 percent of children doing agricultural work are five to nine years old, and 29.6 percent are in the 10- to 13-year bracket. (read more)

Lima, June.– Juancito can no longer go to school. He suffers from strong headaches and feels sick practically all the time. His mother Teresa does not know what to do because the doctor has told her that the boy is “OK”. "If he does not want to go to school, he will have to work", she said. She is a 43-year-old Peruvian peasant.

"I do know what is happening to him: he is poisoned", stressed Ana López, his schoolteacher.

"I have seen many students suffering from similar symptoms because they are involved in fumigation for a long time. Their parents believe that it is easy; they do not know how dangerous it can be", she stressed.

Juancito lives in a small village of Callejón de los Conchucos (western Andean region). There and in many other rural settlements, hundreds of children and teenagers are involved in fumigation on a daily basis. Parents do not know that permanent exposure to pesticides changes hormonal processes and weakens the immune system. (read more)

Mexico, June.– A strong controversy over child labor has sparked in Latin America. While some people think that it is synonymous of child exploitation, others believe that it is a right.

Out of the total number of children and teenagers working in the country, 1.5 million are involved in illegal economic activities and are being exploited. Half of them are 12 to 15 years old.

Labor is permitted under the law to those over 14 years of age, but many younger children look after family members and do chores at home.

The latest report prepared by a number of organizations headed by Thais Social Development highlighted the need to put together a National Program to Prevent and Eradicate Child Labor. (read more)

Tapachula, Mexico.– A few steps away from the Guatemalan border in Tapachula, Central American migrants plan to reach the United States through Mexico. As there is no train service available, they remove their shoes and go on walking.

Women like Mariela often speak of humiliation, helplessness, rape and human rights violations. They just want to change their lives.

Mariela managed to get to the north and left her testimony at the Migrant House.

Father Pedro Pantoja is in charge of Bethlehem Lodging in Saltillo (Coahuila), 1,200 kilometers away from the capital city. "Some Central American migrant women are strong enough to become leaders despite all the suffering", he said. (read more)

SEMlac Reports 2008