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News > Latin America

Argentina: Outrage Over State Inaction After Gang Rape of 13-Year-Old Girl

  • Women in Chile protest agains femicides. Femicides and gender-based violence continues to plague Latin America.

    Women in Chile protest agains femicides. Femicides and gender-based violence continues to plague Latin America. | Photo: Reuters

Published 16 May 2018
Opinion

The 13-year-old girl has not received legal or psycological assistance from the state.

Over 100 women marched Tuesday night in the Argentina state of Salta to demand justice and punishment for the five men who gang raped a 13-year-old girl last week.

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Demonstrators demanded a “safe city for women.” They asked the municipality to cut the grasslands, more street lights, bus routes close to homes, and safe paths with guards when the kids get out of school.

Rosario de Lerna is a rural city of 30,000 inhabitants that depends on tobacco production. It is 30 kilometers away from Salta’s capital and has little access to public services.

The teen was returning home from school when she was intercepted by the five aggressors who beat her and raped her. After the attack, the girl wandered in the streets for almost an hour disoriented, unable to find her way home and in a state of shock.

The girl’s aunt, who found her, took her to the Hospital where she remained for a week.

According to Monica Menini, a feminist lawyer representing the girl, she didn’t receive any legal or psychological assistance from the state.  

So far three of the aggressors have been detained, one of the them a 17-year-old minor. The police is still searching for the other two rapists.  

Women organizations have mobilized in support of the girl and her family and participated in Tuesday's demonstrations.

When asked about access to psychological accompaniment, Menini explained it would be difficult. “In the school they told us there is only one psychologist for all the schools in the area, and she lives 30 kilometers from Salta’s hospital where someone could treat her.”

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