Rapist of Indigenous Girl Found Guilty in Guatemala

On Tuesday, a Guatemalan court sentenced teacher Armando Vaidez to 27 years of non-commutable imprisonment for the rape of Eliza, a 15-year-old Indigenous girl.

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Lawyer Lili Vasquez commented that gender-rights activists are making efforts to prosecute 22 similar cases of sexual abuse that took place in the northern part of the country.

Eliza was subjected to repeated rapes between the ages of 12 and 14. During this period, the rapist deployed his power as a public employee to threaten, intimidate, and disqualify the accusation.

Newvertheless, the Indigenous girl was listened to and supported by the staff of the New Hope Community (NHC), an educational project that provides assistance to minors at risk in the department of Alta Verapaz.

The sentence "is a dose of confidence. It is like putting a seed in the ground and irrigating it with the first drops of water of something new that is emerging," said Maria Pineda, the NHC Human Rights and Victim Attention Coordinator.

During the first seven months of 2021, the Guatemalan Prosecutor's Office had registered almost 37,000 cases of violence against women, 5,389 reports of child abuse, and 5,072 sexual assaults targeting women.

According to data provided by the Judicial system, 237 reports of aggression against girls and women are registered on average each day in Guatemala.