A Tale from Tijuana

By Dr. Suzanne Lake, Clinical Psychologist

This story is from our May 2010 visit.  I heard about Ana from her mother, who sat sobbing before me at the improvised counseling “office” we set up in Tijuana’s poorest neighborhood, next to the city garbage dump.

Ana is 15 years old.  She has glossy black hair, and sparkling black eyes with long black lashes, through which she tends to look shyly at you when she talks.  She loves to read, draw, and cook special foods for her little sister.

Three weeks ago, on a Friday morning about 9:00, she was on her way to a job interview.  Her father has not been helping support her family– mother, 5 year old sister, and 16 year old brother– and she was hoping to get a job as a cashier at the store they shop in.

As she trudged along the road in the morning sunlight, a car suddenly pulled over and two men in masks leaped out and grabbed her by the hair.  They dragged her into the car, pushing her between them, and suddenly pressed a moist rag to her face…  When Ana woke up, she was lying beside the road in another neighborhood.  Her clothes were torn, her body was bruised, and her body had been violated.  Ana dragged herself to an aunt’s house nearby, and was taken to the police station.  The police took her report, but admitted they would take no action, because Ana had never seen the rapists’ faces, and could not identify them.

Word got out in the neighborhood that Ana had been molested.  But rather than outrage or sympathy, she was accosted with scorn and blame.  Even though she had never had a boyfriend, was known to be a modest and even prim young girl, many of the local women took the occasion to heap ridicule on Ana, a violated woman.  She was made fun of when she went out, and so she stayed in the tiny house, filled with misery.  To make matters worse, Ana had missed her period, and the prospect of a pregnancy from the terrible event filled the whole family with dread.

Her mother cried as she told me how Ana would hardly talk to her, and would not come for counseling, or an examination, to the medical site we had set up, because she would be abused and shamed.  She explained that Ana’s underwear and her only presentable clothes for job interviews had been ruined, or taken in the attack, and that she could not afford to replace them.  “Comida o ropas” (Food or clothes) was the dilemma the mother faced, inevitably deciding that feeding the family had to take precedence.

In the end, I took my translator, Francesca (a sweet, tender 23 year old volunteer) up the road to see Ana in her little home.  Ana’s tiny 5 year old sister refused to leave the room at first, alternately guarding her big sister, and looking for something to play with.  Ana was very guarded herself, although she had consented to our visit.  She showed us her room, including the photos of an older brother who had been murdered in the drug wars.  I talked to her about feelings, inviting her to express herself, but with shy smiles, Ana said very little.  However, the little she did say moved Francesca to tears.  I spoke gently to Ana, and reassured her, “If some strangers came into my bedrooom, I would find it hard to talk, too!”  I told her that if she wanted to talk later in the day, Francesca and I would be available.  And I urged her to come to the medical site, where she could be examined.

A few hours later, we saw that Ana had indeed ventured out to be see a doctor at our site.  Ana’s mother told Francesca that Ana seemed much more relaxed since our visit, and had spoken to her.  Meanwhile, Francesca–who was about the same physical size as Ana–had gone through her luggage and extracted some clean, new clothes that Ana might wear to a job interview.  She didn’t have an extra bra with her, though.  So she canvassed the other volunteers, and found one that would fit Ana.  She produced the bag containing the clothes and asked Ana’s mother to accept it for Ana.

Despite the heartbreak of the situation, I was so glad that Ana had come to the site, and touched by Francesca’s generosity.  My heart soared when I learned that Ana’s pregnancy test had come back negative.  Maybe this little girl still had a chance.

Suzanne Lake, PsyD
Doctor of Clinical Psychology
626 795  8148
2810 E. DelMar Blvd., #10A
Pasadena, Ca 91107