Cases of child exploitation on Marajó Island, reported by Damares, return to debate

Reports of sexual exploitation of children and trafficking of minors on Marajó Island, in Pará, resurfaced this week, following the repercussion of a song by singer Aymeê titled “Evangelho de fariseus”.

In the lyrics, the singer mentions the social and environmental problems on the Amazon island: “Meanwhile, in Marajó/ João disappeared/ Waiting for the harvesters of the great harvest/ The Amazon burns/ A child dies/ The animals leave/ Overheated by the brothers’ egos”.

The song had repercussions on social media, after the singer performed in the semi-final of the program “Dom reality”, a musical competition between artists from the gospel universe, broadcast on YouTube, last Thursday (15). After the presentation, Aymeé gave a brief account of the tragedies and crimes that occur in Marajó.

“Marajó is an island a few minutes from Belém, my homeland. And there is a lot of organ trafficking there. This is normal there. There is pedophilia on a level hard. 5-year-old children, when they see a boat coming from outside with tourists (the young woman interrupts herself)… Marajó is very touristy, and the families there are very poor. Little children aged 6 and 7 go out in a canoe and prostitute themselves on the boat for R$5″, said Aymeé.

The announcement made by the singer reignited the debate about cases of prostitution and pedophilia that have been reported since 2006 and even by the former Minister of Human Rights, Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF). With the resumption of the subject, artists and influencers launched the campaign #justicaporMarajo on social media demanding some solution to the crimes. However, at the time Damares reported the cases she was called “crazy” and criticized by artists.

In September last year, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed a public civil action against Damares and the Union, asking them to pay compensation of R$5 million to the population of Arquipelágo do Marajó, in Pará, for alleged accusations of “practices violent sexual acts and torture against children”. The parliamentarian’s advisor said that “she was never mentioned” and at the time, reinforced that “the senator expects the MPF to be relentless in hunting down sexual abusers and exploiters of children and adolescents.”

The action refers to a video, which circulated on the internet in October last year, where the former minister spoke about alleged crimes in the region – such as children from Marajó being trafficked abroad and being subjected to body mutilation and diets. that facilitate sexual abuse. The MPF claims that Damares did not present evidence of the alleged crimes mentioned. According to the ministry, between 2016 and 2022, 5,440 reports were registered via Dial 100 (the ministry’s reporting channel) of sexual exploitation of minors in the state of Pará.

In 2022, the People’s Gazette showed that cases of sexual exploitation and pedophilia have been investigated for decades in the region and were the subject of an investigation initiated at the request of the Human Rights and Minorities Commission (CDHM) of the Chamber of Deputies, in 2006.

With the aim of investigating and investigating the practice of pedophilia crimes, the Pedophilia CPI was also created in 2008 in the Senate, whose work ended in 2010. In its recommendations to the states, the almost 1,700-page report suggests measures to contain pedophilia in Pará. One of them requests the state’s Court of Justice to create a special internal commission to assess cases of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents with priority.

According to the CPI rapporteur, former senator Demóstenes Torres (DEM/GO), the state of Pará had presented “ostensible” cases of pedophilia, with the involvement of authorities.

Damares speaks again about the allegations

After the matter came to light through Aymeé’s song, senator Damares Alves congratulated the singer and said she felt “very touched” by the message. “She’s from Belém, in the region. She knows what she’s talking about,” wrote the parliamentarian via the X networkthis Thursday (22).

Damares recalled that his first contact with the “Marajó situation” was in the early 2000s at the Chamber’s Human Rights Commission. And later, when following the CPI on Human Trafficking, she said that she met Dom Azcona who was “an activist and denounced the cases that occurred in the region”.

The senator also recalled the 2014 CPI on Abuse and Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, which revealed “new reports of abuse and sexual exploitation of children in the region”. “After that, countless reports denounced what was happening there: children who got on boats to be abused in exchange for diesel oil, in exchange for food or meager change. They took risks in this process and all of this happened in broad daylight. Why didn’t anyone do anything about it?” wrote Damares.

“When I became Minister of Human Rights, I made it my mission to put an end to it all. And I was there dozens of times to listen to the people and understand what was happening there. Everyone blamed poverty and the distance from State institutions. And our response was to create a program, Abrace o Marajó, to unite governments and civil society to improve the region’s HDI”, he added.

According to the senator, during her administration “specific actions were carried out to help the population, with the sending of basic food baskets”. “We had big plans and turned our action into a program established by decree. But then the pandemic came, and practically all the resources we had planned for the region were transferred to combating the disease and its consequences. There was this feeling of an unaccomplished mission “, he said.

Damares accuses that cases increased after the Lula government and the Ministry of Human Rights canceled the Marajó program. According to Lula’s Ministry, Damares’ old program was revoked due to low social participation in the project and little effectiveness of the actions.

“What has the Ministry actually done since then? I still hear and read reports of abuses in the region today. This breaks my heart and I sincerely hope that this song wakes up our society, wakes up Brazil. So that those who denounce abuses in region is not silenced. So that institutions dedicate less time to political polarization and persecuting supposed adversaries, and are more engaged in presenting concrete responses to this problem”, reinforced the senator.

“Marajó is asking for help and it is not new. May this time people be truly compelled to act when they hear the silent cries of children”, concluded Damares.