Interview: When Poverty Results in women and girls becoming victims of violence, part 1

Recently, I was invited to an event by the International Justice Mission (IJM) a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world.  Though I am still learning about their work, what I’ve learned about what they do is truly impressive.  I was especially interested in how much they have helped women who have been victimized, and thus I am honored to have recently interviewed Pablo Villeda, Vice President of Operations in Latina America. 

Below is an audio recording of this powerful interview; if you would prefer to read the transcript, I’ve included it as well!  I hope this helps you!  I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment below.  If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends and family!

Lots of love,

 Judith

Judith: Pablo, thank you for being  with us today and for sharing a little bit more about International Justice Mission. When I saw your presentation here in the Bay Area, in California, I was so impressed about everything you are doing, my first thought was: “I must invite him to Judith Duval Radio” for him to share with us a bit more about what he does, what the organization does, and many of the problems you are detecting in Latin America. ¿Could you talk a bit more about IJM and its mission?

Pablo: Of course; Judith, it’s a pleasure for me to talk to you and to hear about your vision and the goals you have.  I am impressed to with your mission to share ideas, thoughts and tools for your audience, so the people that share with you, are able live in a more integrated and fruitful way.

International Justice Mission is a non-government organization founded in 1997, whose mission is to protect underprivileged people, and individuals that live in poverty throughout the world, protect them from violence, rescuing victims, bring criminals to justice, restore and take care of survivors so they can live safely and with strength, and also to cooperate with local legal authorities, so they can build a long-lasting safe future; that’s what we do, and that’s what we are; now, about our mission, in other words, the reality we want to see, and that we are working to achieve in the countries where we work, is to rescue, to protect millions and to prove that justice is possible for those that live in poverty.

There is hopelessness in the current world about the violent injustice that affects poor people, so International Justice Mission tries to communicate that actually it is possible, step by step, to bring justice to the poor.

Judith: Last time we talked you were sharing with me an example in Bolivia, about a family, a girl that was victim of violence, could you share with the audience a little bit more about what is going on, not only in that country, but in most Latin American countries and a little more about that specific story that moved me so much.

Pablo: Yes, well, about one year ago I met a girl, who I will be naming by a nickname: Marcela, to protect her identity, I met this girl when she was 11 years old, and unfortunately, she had been victim of child sexual abuse when she was 8.

She was sexually assaulted by her stepfather, an abusive man, violent and alcoholic that lived with her mother; Marcela is an Aimara girl, from Alto, in Bolivia and she represents thousands, or should I say millions of girls and boys in Latin America and other countries throughout the world that are vulnerable to crimes such as child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, human traffic, and other types of abuse and violence for vulnerable people, now these things happen, these abuses, this exploitation happens because the public  justice systems don’t work to favor poor people.

They don’t possess the resources, the motivation, the training, the tools to prevent and deal effectively with the crimes that poor people suffer. The good news is that  there  already are significant efforts by organizations like International Justice Mission and some good governments leaders that have taken as a priority of their governments, to strengthen the publicjustice system in order to prevent that girls as Marcela to experience sexual violence, and in case they suffer it, that the person, the abusers and the perpetrators are brought to the justice and be held accountable for their actions; and victims like this girl can be restored to achieve her dreams and aspirations like any other girl.

Judith: Could you give me some examples about the organization and the type of cases you see

Pablo: IJM focus mainly on cases of child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, ilegal and violent land confiscations, particularly from widows, police abuse and also on slavery or bonded labor that still happen in several places in the world. These are the types of cases that we focus on, there are some similars cases that we also work on, but these are the types of violence and abuse that poor people suffer on daily basis, and interestingly enough there are laws that prohibit them, but in many cases these laws are not being applied.

Judith:  I would like to speak more of the land confiscation from widows. Could you speak to us a bit more about this?  We usually hear in the mass media about child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, police abuse, especially here in the United States is something that has been covered in the press, but really, when we talk about lands confiscations from widows, it moves me so much; because I realized how much damage power can do, how poor people has so little importance, and the abuse someone that is in their worst time, a widow that has just lost her husband, can suffer, thus having her lose it all.

Pablo: Yes, excellent remarks and questions, because for us that live in a country or a region, where there is a protection system that works under the rule of law, these issues about an individual losing their lands sounds like something from another world.  

Judith: Yes, definitely.

Pablo: Turns out that this happens in some countries, particularly in Africa, where there are weak legal systems protecting private property, particularly of persons without resources. 

The typical case I spoke to you of, and can share with your audience, is that many women lose their husbands and then lose the piece of land they used to work when the husband dies.  It’s usually a small piece of land that is her only source of income, generallywith agriculture and livestock to survive, and I am talking here about a few goats, a few cows, hens, etc. Due to cultural reasons, power abuse factors, and the absence of the rule of law and governments that protect poor people, many times these women and their kids are literally expelled from their lands by the community, or by the deceased’s family, depriving them of their sole source of food and subsistence.  It is done by pressure and with violence.  This woman, this widow, along with her kids, is suddenly stripped of her only source of income.

Therefore, this a clear example of violence against poor people affecting not only their freedom, their dignity, but also their own subsistence.  We have to make it a priority to fight against violence, against poverty in our countries, and focus all the organizations and government’s effort to battle this.

Judith: Usually, what do these women do after they are expelled? I guess they don’t have many options, what do they end up doing?

Pablo: In the absence of resources they try to fight for their lives, knowing they are unprotected, losing all hope, they end up in the streets, starving, receiving support from some relatives that are able to help them, many of them seek help from the police but they don’t get it. This is the situation we want to change, they are left in a situation of vulnerability, of abandonment, experiencing hunger, thirst, malnutrition and more.

Judith: First thing that comes to my mind is that women are more exposed to this type of abuse. Have you seen that your victims are usually women instead of men? Or how does it work?

Pablo: In general, violence against poor people affects men and women, but reality is that women and girls are more exposed to being victims of violence, because they are more vulnerable, or because of gender abuse, due to a twisted understanding of  gender roles, and also because many of them are in charge and responsible for a family, with an absent father or husband, who are irresponsible and violent, in other words, women and girls are disproportionately victims of violence.

There are researchs and information, the academical and intellectual community agrees completely on the necessity to protect women and girls as one of the most vulnerable parts of humankind.

Judith: Yes, I just wrote an article that was very popular in my website about the fact that there is a lack of balance in the dynamics between man and woman (click here to read it), and women are still in disadvantage, and how much we still have to do.

In the most developed places in the world women are finding more opportunities. The more opportunities we get, the more we are indebted to this problem, this inequality between men and women, especially to those women who don not receive the opportunities we do.

To finish this segment, you already told me about how you are helping to solve the problem, but in a situation like you just have described, in Bolivia, a child sexual abuse example, can you explain a little bit about how you found out about the case, and how you proceeded?

Pablo: Yes Judith, we intervene in the countries where we have presence through a multidisciplinary team of researchers, lawyers, social workers and other professionals that acting under the norms and local set of laws generate an alliance and cooperation with government officers, publicemployees, public servants, in the police, in the social services, en the judicial courts, in order to actively identify  these cases of violence against vulnerable people. Our organization receives these referrals from organizations that work on development, in public schools, churches, communities; sometimes the authorities themselves refer the cases to us because they don’t have the resources to work on them, then we analyze the case and offer an integrated service.

This service goes from taking care of the victim through therapy, educational opportunities, medical treatment if needed, actions of protection to place the victim and their family in a safe place; our legal team intervenes with the police and local prosecutors to secure the legal case against the abusers and perpetrators; then after having worked on several cases we start to understand the system’s weaknesses to seek resources and tools to strengthen the work of the public servants.

Our mission is really active and we are also interested in that International Justice Mission is not to be needed for us to strengthen the capacities of local authorities for them to be able to work properly in favor of poor people, without needing our presence.

Judith: Perfect, well in the next segment we will talk moreabout this girl you mentioned, Marcela, again not her real name as we are protecting this victim’s identity, and you can expand not only on her story, but aslo how you came to know about her case, what you did, and all that.

For our audience,  please join us for the next segment , Pablo and I will continue talking about the great work that International Justice Mission is doing.

Pablo: Of course, it will be my pleasure to share.

Judith: Thank you Pablo.

About IJM:

IJM lawyers, investigators, and aftercare professionals partner with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems. The organization works to combat sex trafficking, forced labor slavery, illegal property grabbing, police abuse of power, child sexual assault, and citizenship rights abuse.  IJM currently has offices in 18 communities throughout the world. 

About Pablo Villeda:

Pablo Villeda serves in International Justice Mission (IJM) as the Vice-president of Operations for Latin America. IJM has offices located in Bolivia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and partners in Ecuador and Peru. Pablo leads programs to rescue and restore children victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, and to secure justice against rapists and exploiters. Before joining IJM, he worked with his father as a lawyer. He also served as minister for young people  and constitutional law professor in his alma mater, Universidad Rafael Landívar, where he received his law degree. Pablo, his wife and children now live in the area of Washington D.C. United States.