According to data from the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV) this June in Carabobo there was an increase in attacks against children and adolescents in the region.
By La Patilla
Jul 21, 2022
Giannina Fusco, coordinator of the OVV in Carabobo, reported that they counted five minor victims of violence.
She specified that the first case was a infanticide in the Carlos Arvelo Municipality. She indicated that the mother, the alleged killer, gave birth in her home after 38 weeks of gestation . Minutes after delivery, the 24-year-old mother reportedly wrapped the newborn girl in a towel, put her in a plastic bag, and finally dumped her in a tank of unsanitary water.
She added that the lifeless body of the baby, who still had the umbilical cord, was found by a citizen in the town of Güigüe.
Ms. Fusco explained that, according to experts, the neonaticide or murder of a baby within the first 24 hours of life is the most common form of filicide, that is, the death of a child at the hands of their parents. “The factors that affect this type of crime are the economic situation, abandonment and lack of a father figure,” she pointed out.
The coordinator of the OVV in Carabobo explained that the second act of violence was the abduction of a two-month-old baby, who was snatched from her mother’s arms by a couple of alleged criminals in the municipality of Los Guayos. Three days later, officials from the Penal and Criminal Scientific Investigations Corps managed to rescue the girl and apprehend those responsible.
The other three cases of aggression are related to sexual abuse. Fusco explained that a 29-year-old man allegedly sexually abused a young woman 16 years younger than him, in the Juan José Mora Municipality.
To this is added that in the El Socorro neighborhood, in Valencia Municipality, a 40-year-old man committed lewd acts against a two-year-old girl and sexually abused his teenage niece. She stated that so far this year they have recorded at least nine complaints of sexual abuse.
“Some factors that have contributed to cases of sexual abuse during 2021 is the number of parents who emigrated in search of better economic conditions and left their children with third parties; or only the mother stays, she has another partner and he commits the sexual abuse. In some cases, the mother was aware of what was happening, but because of the economic situation, because the abusive partner was the breadwinner of the house, she allowed this type of abuse,” said Fusco.
Ms. Fusco considered that education is the best tool for the prevention of violence therefore, in her opinion, the regional authorities must promote and guarantee education at all levels, as well as educational programs aimed at citizen education and Human Rights.
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