{"id":172867,"date":"2025-09-27T11:20:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T11:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172867\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T11:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T11:20:06","slug":"galapagos-islands-wildlife-haven-faces-a-sexual-violence-epidemic-protection-is-nonexistent-galapagos-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/172867\/","title":{"rendered":"Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, wildlife haven, faces a sexual violence epidemic: \u2018Protection is nonexistent\u2019 | Gal\u00e1pagos Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

El Mango viewpoint on Isla Isabela, the least populated island of the Gal\u00e1pagos archipelago<\/a>, offers panoramic views of lush mangroves and crystalline shores. But this idyllic spot was also the setting for the darkest of crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter was 15 when a man without scruples or feelings did this thing to her,\u201d said Carmen Torres, sitting at the kitchen table in a small house on the outskirts of the island\u2019s main village, her eyes cast downwards to the floor. \u201cHe knew what he was doing. But these are children, and they are so vulnerable to manipulation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Carmen\u2019s daughter and two of her school friends were drugged and taken to El Mango, where just a short walk from the viewpoint, the undergrowth is littered with dirty mattresses and discarded condoms. All three girls were sexually abused and raped.<\/p>\n

Ecuador\u2019s Gal\u00e1pagos Islands<\/a> are a protected national park and Unesco World Heritage site, whose rich, unusual fauna played a pivotal role in Charles Darwin\u2019s theory of evolution. It is a haven for wildlife, but for the human population of some 33,000 \u2013 and especially the women and girls among them \u2013 it is not a place of safety.<\/p>\n

A 2019 report by the UN notes<\/a> \u201cobvious tension between the image projected of the Gal\u00e1pagos as a destination \u2026 with an emphasis on nature conservation \u2026 versus the socioeconomic barriers and needs experienced by its inhabitants, particularly women\u201d.<\/p>\n

Torres was afraid to speak publicly about her daughter\u2019s case, and asked to use a pseudonym because the island has a population of 2,000, and everyone knows one another. Since she and her daughter reported the assault to authorities, they have received threats, bullying and harassment from other islanders. Torres was accused of being a bad mother, while her daughter was dismissed as a prostitute and drug addict.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many girls that don\u2019t speak out because [they fear] the violence they will face for doing so,\u201d said Torres.<\/p>\n

Two of the girls attacked at El Mango reported the crime to the police. When local authorities failed to take action, they sought help from a local activist group, Magma. Together with international anti-sex-trafficking organisation Our Rescue, they arranged for the girls to be taken to a safe-house in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, where they are receiving support and protection while the case remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

Another animal health laboratory has opened for DNA analysis of iguanas and ticks. But for people? NothingMar\u00eda Casafont, Magma co-founder<\/p>\n

Since it was founded in 2020, Magma \u2013 a small team composed of a handful of volunteers \u2013 has supported more than 100 cases of gender-based violence across the Gal\u00e1pagos archipelago. In 2022, they urged authorities to act after a 12-year-old gave birth<\/a> in Santa Cruz, the most populous island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no criminal report,\u201d said Mar\u00eda Casafont, one of Magma\u2019s founders. \u201cThe protection system in the Gal\u00e1pagos is nonexistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activists say that what happened to Torres\u2019s daughter follows a pattern they have seen before, suggesting evidence of a child-trafficking ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to be the modus operandi of a group of men who capture girls, rape them and extort them for sex, photos and videos,\u201d said Marcela Santillana, another member of of the group.<\/p>\n

The organisation calculates that gender violence accounts for 25% of all reported crimes on the Gal\u00e1pagos, but only 5% of sexual violence cases result in a conviction. The real number scale of problem is believed to be much higher as very few crimes are actually reported, said Santillana. \u201cPeople don\u2019t trust the system,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many more resources are dedicated to pursuing environmental offences, which account for less than 1% of reported crimes.<\/p>\n

A view of El Junco Lagoon, a volcanic crater lake on the island of San Cristobal at Gal\u00e1pagos national park in Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, Ecuador, on 10 February. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a systematic problem with the police and prosecutor\u2019s office,\u201d said Albert de la Huerta, Our Rescue\u2019s the Latin America director of operations. Prosecutors from mainland Ecuador are only deployed to the islands for short periods, and the constant rotation causes delays and eventual dismissal of crimes, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time they get knowledge of the islands, they\u2019re leaving. I think it\u2019s set up that way because everyone wants to protect the image of the Gal\u00e1pagos,\u201d said De la Huerta, who said the Gal\u00e1pagos was one of Latin America\u2019s worst \u201chot spots\u201d for child trafficking.<\/p>\n

The islands\u2019 remoteness adds to the problem, said de la Huerta. \u201cEverybody\u2019s scared that if they talk, something will happen to them. So no one wants to file a criminal report, and the police can\u2019t do anything\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ecuador\u2019s Women\u2019s Ministry <\/a>and Tourism Ministry<\/a> both said in statements that they recognise the pressing issue of gender violence, citing specialised training for public officials, and technical assistance to improve institutional responses to cases.<\/p>\n

The public prosecutor\u2019s office told the Guardian that a work plan has been established to address sexual violence on the islands, which includes setting up a Gesell chamber (a child-friendly interview room with a one-way mirror) on Santa Cruz to record sensitive testimonies from children.<\/p>\n

The prosecutors office said that high staff turnover was a result of strict population control measures in the Gal\u00e1pagos, where residency is limited to five years for public officials. However, they did not address allegations that some prosecutors serve for as little as 30 days, nor outline any plans for urgent needs, such as setting up a forensic lab for evidence collection or shelters for abuse survivors, which currently do not exist on the archipelago.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother animal health laboratory has opened for DNA analysis of iguanas and ticks,\u201d said Casafont. \u201cBut for people? Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the Gal\u00e1pagos islands\u2019 youngest residents have decided to take matters into their own hands. One friend of the girls who were raped in El Mango, organised a protest to demand greater support from prosecution services.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want other girls to be afraid to report abuse,\u201d said the teenage girl, who has also been subjected to sexual harassment, and plans to leave the island as she finishes school to escape the island\u2019s unbearable misogyny and abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would stay and fight, but this community is very toxic,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I leave, I won\u2019t ever come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Torres has not seen her daughter for months: she is still in the Quito safe-house as the investigation drags on. \u201cWe want the girls to come home, but not until justice has been served and their attacker is behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Mango viewpoint on Isla Isabela, the least populated island of the Gal\u00e1pagos archipelago, offers panoramic views of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-172867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}