children on the run


PRISCILLA: HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD?


How far would you go to protect your daughter from being taken as a gang leader’s sex slave?


Priscilla*, who lived with her family in Honduras, did everything she could. In the end, she saved her daughter. But her family’s safety came with a high cost.


Priscilla and her husband ran a family business where they made pastries, fresh juices and cakes.


But then the mara, also known as pandilla—the criminal gang—came to the neighbourhood.


The mara started harassing shop owners, intimidating them and extorting them with a so-called “war tax.” Resistance meant death.


After a nearby shop-owner was murdered, Priscilla knew she had to protect her own family. She told the gang that she would give them whatever they wanted if they would leave her family alone. An agreement was reached, but they soon wanted more than money.


Priscilla was home alone when a stranger entered, holding a gun, asking where Priscilla’s eldest daughter was. He told her that the young woman had been selected to become his boss’ “girlfriend.” Gang members often take “girlfriends,” who they rape, abuse and kill.


Terrified, Priscilla closed her business and moved her family to another neighbourhood. But


then the police


called, asking her to identify a body that had been savagely tortured. It was her brother.


There was no escaping the violence. While walking to school, her younger children were caught in a shoot-out. They hid, but watched several people gunned down. When the children were finally found, they were catatonic from shock. They didn’t return to school.


The family made the painful decision to leave everything behind—their home,


their business, their friends and


relatives—and leave Honduras. That night, they spent all their remaining savings on bus fare to Mexico.


They were finally safe, but the fear Priscilla had endured for several years resulted in a nervous breakdown as she filled out their refugee applications. The children also showed signs of extreme stress.


The good news is that their application has been approved. They will stay in Mexico, send their children to school, and maybe even start their own business again. UNHCR has been supporting them with monthly cash assistance to help with rent and food. Slowly, Priscilla’s family life is returning to a new normal—one of peace and possibility. «


* All names changed for protection purposes. © UNHCR


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