Argentina rescues 15-year-old girl kept for nine years in garage

[webfact]

Argentina rescues girl kept for nine years in garage

BUENOS AIRES: -- Police in Argentina say they have rescued a 15-year-old girl who had been starved, beaten and kept in a garage for nine years by her foster parents.

The girl weighed only 20 kilos (44 pounds), and said she had been fed only bread and water in her captivity.

Her only company had been that of a dog and a monkey, and she said she was beaten with a belt if she tried to eat the leftover food thrown to the pets.

Her carers have been arrested and charged with slavery and abuse.

The teenager was found in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, by one of her biological sisters, who had lost track of her.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27058948


-- BBC 2014-04-17

[lee b]

What is wrong with some people? How can they be so sick?? Poor Girl !!

[empireboy]

There is no bottom to the depths of human depravity....

[Pii Kate]

My heart is breaking for this girl. The odds of her ever becoming whole and healed a minimal. Does anyone know of a foster care system that benefits the child?

[HerbalEd]

What possible benefit could her "carers" get from such treatment, beyond the enjoyment of pure evil. I don't believe there is a hell, but sometimes I wish there was for people like this.

[gwynt]

My heart is breaking for this girl. The odds of her ever becoming whole and healed a minimal. Does anyone know of a foster care system that benefits the child?

I agree with your comment that the poor girl will have great difficulty integrating into a society that has treated her so badly.

To answer your question, yes the UK foster system is not perfect, but having fostered children for many years and maintaining contact with some who have moved on to be valuable members of the community.

Now raising their own children.

There are many more individuals who dedicate their lives to helping children through fostering, not all people are inherently bad, but those that are can be vicious.

[robertson468]

My heart is breaking for this girl. The odds of her ever becoming whole and healed a minimal. Does anyone know of a foster care system that benefits the child?

From experience - yes! My Wife was in Care for many years and very much appreciated the skills, love and affection she was given by her Foster Mother, who we visited frequently during our marriage, as did others, after the Lady retired, who were also Fostered and made a successs of their lives. My Daughter is now carrying on that tradition and despite the sometimes harrowing cases she is given, tries very hard to prepare these "damaged children" for future life and to become useful members of the adult society, at the same time giving them the love and understanding that many have never experienced. To initially win over the trust of some of these children is often a heart-breaking and often rebuffed task, but with perseverance and gentle coaching, so far she has succeeded. Once a loving relationship is established, it is highly rewarding, but to get to that point can be very painful and soul-searching and one must be prepared to experience many rejections for well intentioned actions. I think you will find many others who have benefited positively from the good Foster Care Systems.

[how241]

There is no bottom to the depths of human depravity....

+1...Unfortunately true.

[ggt]

These people are mentally ill...poor girl...what kind of life can she have now...after years of solitary confinement...so sad...

[Scott]

In most foster care systems, the state is the actual custodian of the child and there are a set number of visits to the child both in the home and possibly at the office of the foster care system per year. In most countries the foster home has to be licensed, and then re-licensed each year. This includes a check of the home, a fire and safety inspection as well as other types of factors.

These visits and checks can't make up for the devious behavior of people, but years in a garage is simply negligence by the foster care system and the courts. In some countries the court must review the child's status in foster care on an annual or a biannual basis.

Sadly, in Argentina, children are removed from their parents because they are poor. In most developed countries there is a welfare system in place that means poverty is not the primary motive in removing a child.

It seems there are quite a few cracks that this child fell through and I hope it does not reflect the general state of foster care in Argentina.

I worked in the foster care system in two countries. In one the caseworker was required to have monthly contact with the foster child and the foster parents and in the other it was every other month.

[boomerangutang]

Sadly, in Argentina, children are removed from their parents because they are poor.

I don't know about the rest of SE Asia, though I assume it's similar, but in Burma, it's not uncommon for a child, particularly a little boy, to be given to the wat. Same reason: parents or single mom can't afford to feed the child. Most wats probably do a decent job, but some allow boys to be sexually preyed upon. I witnessed such a scenario at a wat in Tachilek, and assume it's not an isolated case. You may wonder how I came to this conclusion: here's the scenario in a nutshell.

I got to a wat mid-day, hot day. ten little boy monks were sitting in a circle, looking dull. An ice cream vendor showed up. The boys still looked dull, didn't even respond. I rested off on my own, in the shade. A teenage monk came up to me and sat on my lap, wanting sexual stimulation. I pushed him off. He jumped on me again, big smile. I just as quickshoved him off and berated him. I looked over and saw a 20-something monk grinning at the scenario from an open doorway. I looked again at the little boys, and realized why they were miserable. Who could I report this abberation to? I didn't know.

[copa8]

Sadly, in Argentina, children are removed from their parents because they are poor.

I don't know about the rest of SE Asia, though I assume it's similar, but in Burma, it's not uncommon for a child, particularly a little boy, to be given to the wat. Same reason: parents or single mom can't afford to feed the child. Most wats probably do a decent job, but some allow boys to be sexually preyed upon. I witnessed such a scenario at a wat in Tachilek, and assume it's not an isolated case. You may wonder how I came to this conclusion: here's the scenario in a nutshell.

I got to a wat mid-day, hot day. ten little boy monks were sitting in a circle, looking dull. An ice cream vendor showed up. The boys still looked dull, didn't even respond. I rested off on my own, in the shade. A teenage monk came up to me and sat on my lap, wanting sexual stimulation. I pushed him off. He jumped on me again, big smile. I just as quickshoved him off and berated him. I looked over and saw a 20-something monk grinning at the scenario from an open doorway. I looked again at the little boys, and realized why they were miserable. Who could I report this abberation to? I didn't know.

for a minute there, thought you were describing a scenario in a catholic church.

[djhotsox]

That is just so sad. Lock them up in a zoo with the monkeys and throw away the key.

[Scott]

Whether it is a Wat, a church sponsored orphanage or child-care agency, it needs to be monitored and licensed/approved by some entity, usually the gov't, that has the interest of the child in mind.

In poor countries, there isn't the money, time or will to necessarily take good care of children. I thought that Argentina was a little better off than this.

[boomerangutang]

We, who come from the west, naturally assume that child-care services are monitored by organizations, professionals, etc. All too often, there are scenarios where kids fall through the cracks. Most wind up doing ok, but some, are damaged for life, physically and mentally.

Nat'l Geographic just had a mention, by a woman photojournalist, of a family of 5 which she met in Dharamsala, India. The youngest daughter, 4, was being purposefully starved by the mother, in order to get begging handouts to feed the other 4 kids. It showed the 4 year old at 9 lbs. Big head, big teary eyes, tiny little torso and skinny-as-chopsticks legs and arms.