Carmen knew that life in prison would be difficult, but she never imagined it would become her worst nightmare. Charged with a crime against public health [drugs], from the first day she entered the Topo Chico prison in Nuevo León [northern border state, capital is Monterrey], they read her the rules,
"Here the last letter--Los Zetas--are in charge. For the beautiful ones like you, I have aCarmen realized that to be at peace here, she had to accept the rules imposed by organized crime, which controls the prison.
special little job. If you want to survive, there is no choice: you agree or we "suicide" you. You decide."
"Since I couldn't afford to pay the [weekly] fee, there was no other way. A few weeks, later one of the leaders said I would be his partner, well, one of many partners. He takes care of me in exchange for sex. There was no other way ...he is good to me and my children."The women's area of Topo Chico prison is 63 percent over capacity. There are 604 inmates; the number has tripled in recent years. Half sleep on the floor and the remaining share stone beds or bunks. Food is scarce and they have to buy it, as well as toiletries. Forty-five of the inmates have their children living here. The exchange of drugs is commonplace and, worse, sexual exploitation is known and tolerated by the authorities and custodians.
Women in a Mens' Prison
The Topo Chico Center for Prevention and Social Reinsertion, directed by Graciela Salazar Robles, is for men. Women have an area, but live together with the male inmates in the areas of admission, workshops and intimate visits:
"At night they come and they say, 'get dressed up to go to the party of those above (the authorities and internal drug bosses)," says Ana, accused of being a drug lookout and also chosen to be a sex slave.It is not easy to talk in the family visiting areas. The inmates are practically sequestered. The law of silence and fear rules. Several men watch the conversations: "They read lips," said Gabriela's mother, who asked not to be asked questions and lowers her head to keep talking softly:
"Everyone is threatened with death. They keep them threatened. They abuse them a lot; they strip and beat them. They are punished if they dare to speak out, or they send them without food to a dark cell for days, weeks."Suicides and murders occur regularly in Topo Chico. Sexual exploitation occurs 24 hours a day. Inmates are charged for services, but they have little income. The guards and managers benefit from the women's bodies for free. There are "parties" inside and outside the prison.
Trying not to move her lips and refusing to give her name, Monica says,
"The head honcho is a policeman dressed in black. He is the one who has full reign, who directs everything inside. When the soldiers come, they line us up, they strip us and grope us; they tease us and steal what little we have. I have more fear of them than of the people here. Everyone uses us. This is not life, it's torment, a horror."Trafficking in Women
Ninety percent of the inmates work in various activities for which they are paid 77 or 98 pesos [US$6.40 or $8.07] a week. The sections called Asylum, Almoloya and The Salvadoran are known for their overcrowding. Inmates sleep piled in bunk beds and mattresses on the floor, with only 2.93 square meters [31.5 sq. ft.] available individually. (The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment recommends individual cells of 8 to 9 square meters [86 to 97 sq. ft.]).
The above statistics are from 'The Study on the Situation of Women Deprived of Their Liberty, 2013', prepared by the State Human Rights Commission of Nuevo León [CEDH].
"It is observed that the internal accommodations are insufficient in terms of personal space in square meters and regarding beds. Furthermore, there is a lack of sufficient airflow and natural light, while facilities with artificial light are deficient," says the document given to La Jornada.Based on interviews with prisoners and guards, the report says nothing about sexual exploitation of inmates or extortion or so-called "fees":
"We have that knowledge on occasion from family members that comment, but they don't want to document it. We have not one complaint. We asked the question, but people tell us that there is no sexual exploitation or abuse," says Minerva Martinez, president of the CEDH, noting the urgency to build a prison for women.Fear and silence meet, believes Martin Carlos Sánchez Bocanegra, director of Reborn, an institution that defends innocent, economically disadvantaged persons who are unfairly prosecuted.
"We all know what happens in Topo Chico. Obviously there is no official information, but we have heard consistently and we have information that sexual exploitation is going on and it is alarming. There are many who are responsible, including state and federal authorities directly. Women are the ones suffering from the control by organized crime in the prisons, because of these practices of using them in matters of sex and being 'partners'."For Sánchez Bocanegra, who runs other initiatives such as the Citizen Observatory of Justice, sexual exploitation within Topo Chico is a clear case of trafficking in women:
"It's hell for prisoners, worse than being deprived of their liberty. They don't have physical, emotional or sexual security. There, inside, the risk is much greater than elsewhere."According to the CEDH report, there are twenty women in Topo Chico with psychiatric problems, only four are separated and the others roam the prison. There is no internal separation of inmates according to crimes or legal situation [awaiting trial vs. convicted] or dangerousness, which also violates international treaties:
"354 are awaiting trial, 109 have been sentenced, and 141 have received final sentencing."The urgency of building a prison for women is not exclusive to Nuevo León. Of Mexico's 420 prisons, only ten state and two federal prisons are exclusively for women. And while 68 prisons have been adapted for them, none meets the necessary requirements, according to the latest report of the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH).
No Exit
Claudia's mother says she is happy that her daughter is one of the partners of the drug lords who control Topo Chico:
"He is in prison for murder, but he is very good to her. Those women working for Los Zetas who are imprisoned are given a salary and those that belong to the Gulf cartel are charged the weekly 'fee'."She says that all she worries about is that Claudia has become addicted to drugs and she is here for a crime she didn't commit:
"She has worked since she was fifteen years old; she had no vices, but as it is here with everyone, once she entered, she pleases him. You must accept the rules."Social reintegration of imprisoned women in Mexico is non-existent, says Marycruz Flores Martínez, representative of the Collective of Women Against Violence, who a few years ago made a study of the internal conditions of Topo Chico:
"They are Abandoned. Nobody cares about them, neither the state nor any organization has made an investigation into the sexual exploitation that been happening for years."She remembers that after the investigation she did there, she became ill from what she saw and heard:
"It is very hard to do any research there, so nobody gets involved. The inmates suffer all sorts of discrimination because of their gender."Martin Carlos Sánchez Bocanegra has no doubt:
"It is necessary to scream to the heavens. What is happening should be pointed out, exposed and revealed. We are frightened for what is happening with the inmates. We have a backwardness regarding care in the state prisons, and in the country, for decades. If as a society we don't respond to this, it could explode at anytime. The prisons are time bombs and we will all be victims."Spanish original