The deputy of the Democratic Revolution and president of the special investigative commission of abuse and sexual exploitation of children and adolescents under State protection, Maite Orsini, referred to the young people who are abandoned by governments and who have seen their rights violated in residences of the Better Childhood Service, formerly known as Sename.
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in conversation with The Counter at La Clavethe parliamentarian affirmed that there has been no political will to solve the situation, added to the non-existent preparation of the institutions in charge to combat the facts.
“There has been no political will on the part of any of the institutions in charge of children to take charge of this reality. In Chile there are networks of commercial sexual exploitation of boys, girls and adolescents whose main focus is Sename or Better Childhood residences”, he commented.
“The institutions in charge are not prepared to face this phenomenon, because the truth is that there is no political will for it. There has not been, until today, a determined intention to make this a priority. Neither by the police, nor by Carabineros, nor by the institutions of childhood. It is extremely worrying and I wonder when we are going to finally put the kids first in line,” he added.
One of the main problems is the system of “vouchers” that exist within the institutions, where the State pays an amount for each minor who enters the residences, which translates into problems in the economic interests that prevent the necessary and urgent transformations.
The parliamentarian maintains that there is an unequal system, where different private companies operate and that the “culture” of the voucher must be eradicated.
“We need a robust, strong public system, with the injection of resources that the seriousness of the problem warrants and change the paradigm of the voucher. We are not granting a highway”, he criticized. “There is a lot of resistance because there is a very big business behind the residences”, he added.
Regarding the name changes of the institution from Sename to Better Childhood, Orsini affirms that it has not produced major changes and that the underlying problem of the situation has not been resolved. “The changes were rather cosmetic and aesthetic, a change of name, a change of image, but the reality of the children and adolescents who inhabit these spaces has not changed,” he said.
On the other hand, in his opinion, there is no will to fix the problem because “children do not vote” and that is why the governments do not pay attention to them, since, not having the legal age to vote, they cannot vote. “support” in future electoral campaigns.
“Children do not vote, in general governments, especially with four-year policies, are concerned with generating more favorable living conditions for those people who can later support them in a future government,” he said.
“We live in an adult-centric society, in which children are not considered in their opinions, they cannot vote on issues that are relevant to them, they have no participation in decision-making. I hope that in the government of Gabriel Boric this will change. I really hope that the government will put emphasis on this issue”, he concluded.
