Their mom sells them right there, in their home,
told Rachel as she holds her two-year-old son.
She is not talking about perfume or bracelets, she is talking about girls.
Coordinator and representative of the Ministry of Health, Nancy Vargas, was asked if it is possible that a parent offers their 11-year-old daughter to, let’s say, the owner of a store, a pool or a bar to hold sexual encounters with her, and in return, a debt will be forgiven or the parent will receive some other economic benefit.
Vargas’s response was categorical:
Yes, it is very possible. It happens.
Vargas confirmed that there are parents or guardians who take economic advantage of the sexuality of their children and adolescents. They do it to pay liquor debts, gambling, to improve their economic situation, etc.
Parents tell their girls: ‘go to that house, let that man touch you and bring me half of what you receive.
explained Sofía, a girl who receives help from PANI.
Authorities are concerned.
Karin Van Kjuik, director of DNI Costa Rica, thinks that sometimes the family believes that girls are better with these men and that society accepts these actions as normal.
The bill to punish with prison those people who have sex with anyone under 15 years old hasn’t been read in Congress. It also aims to prohibit marriage to minors and to set a maximum difference of 5 years between the child and the adult to have intercourse.