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Peruvian minister apologizes for trivializing sexual violence against indigenous minors

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A school in an Awajun community in Peru. Photo: X/ @larepublica_pe

June 20, 2024 Hour: 12:48

More than 500 teachers sexually abused girls and boys from the indigenous population of the Amazon region, many of whom were infected with HIV.

On Thursday, Peruvian Education Minister Morgan Quero apologized for statements in which he described cases of child rape in indigenous communities in the Amazon as “cultural practices.”

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Last week, the newspaper La Republica reported over 500 complaints of sexual harassment and abuse of primary and secondary school students by teachers between 2010 and 2024.

These incidents occurred in Condorcanqui, a province in the Amazon region, where some minors from the Awajun indigenous community had even been infected with HIV.

When journalists asked Quero about the Awajun cases, he said his ministry would work on “some solution,” implying that the events could be considered a “cultural practice.”

The text reads: “In Peru, 524 teachers not only sexually abused Awajun girls and boys, but also infected them with HIV. And this in a population where 75 percent of carriers have no access to retroviruses.”

Following public outrage over these statements, the Education Minister later issued a statement saying his words had been misunderstood and that there was “no justification whatsoever for such cruel acts” as had taken place in Awajun schools and dormitories.

“With this apology, I acknowledge that I made a mistake when I expressed myself inappropriately and inaccurately in those unacceptable statements last week,” Quero reiterated today, asking for forgiveness from the Amazonian community of Awajun through Raquel Caicat, vice president of the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples.

“We have already dismissed six teachers who were accused of sexual harassment and who were dismissed at the time but have now been re-employed by other educational institutions,” he added.

Quero called on the public prosecutor’s office to reopen investigations into cases that had already been closed and said that his institution was “working on improving” the regulations in the education sector.

Source: EFE

teleSUR/ JF

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