New Gideon Center Brings Hope for Girl Raped by Neighbor

"Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?" —Luke 18:7

María (name changed for privacy) is just 14. By all rights she should be spending her days chatting with friends, enjoying classes and perhaps playing a prank our two with her classmates—in short, having a normal adolescence. Instead, since late November she spends most days locked in her house, scared and ashamed of what the gossipers in her small rural town will say about her: “raped.”

María 's mother abandoned her as an infant. Her father recently left to try his chances as an undocumented worker in the U.S. María lives with her grandmother and two small cousins. They love her, but can do little to protect her. One day a little over three months ago, María 's cousins were playing outside. Her grandmother was off doing errands. A 16-year-old neighbor who had taken an unhealthy interest in her, along with his conniving sisters, took advantage of the situation. The sisters went to María 's house and chatted pleasantly with her. Then they introduced their brother. Then, they fled the room and locked the door from the outside while he raped María .

On the few occasions María got up the courage to leave the house after that day, the sisters would snicker and call out “raped!” “raped!” whenever she walked past. Though María had reported the crime to police and been seen by a medical examiner, her casefile remained buried in the local police chief's filing cabinet and no actions were taken against her attacker. For months, it seemed there was little hope for María to ever return to a normal life.

But thanks to the new AJS-supported Gideon Center opened recently in María 's town, hope has been restored. Trained volunteers at the new Gideon Center in Santa María del Real, Olancho, brought María 's story to the attention of a lawyer and psychologist who work with the Center seeing cases and advising volunteers at the center twice a month. The psychologist is helping to heal María 's deep emotional scars; the lawyer has used other police contacts to convince the police in Olancho to begin investigating.

The emotional damage María has suffered will take months or even years to heal. But at least now, in the Gideon Center in Olancho, she has a friend and advocate who will not leave her side until she is healed—and until justice is done.

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