美国女奴的噩梦人生 五年性奴二十载冤狱 : V5 d/ b, a. Q3 p* L3 e: w8 `: C6 n
对于玛丽亚•苏亚雷斯来说，美国绝非一个机会之国。当1976年,15的她从墨西哥来到美国时，满脑子装的都是美好的梦想。但两星期不到，她就被卖为奴隶，梦想顷刻间变成梦魇。31年了，这名勇敢的妇女仍然在为自由和居留美国而抗争。 % W5 g3 U3 D5 C2 w+ l" d6 B 9 O- t$ M# o# N3 Q2 a, r! ]. q7 }( | 当年苏亚雷斯不懂英语，而且她承认自己当时很天真无知。她在接受电话采访时回忆说：“在街上，一名讲西班牙语的女子走到我跟前。她看上去非常友善，问我愿不愿做打扫卫生和接听电话的工作。我觉得这是天赐良机，很高兴地答应了。” " ~. U3 P; v7 m+ |$ K" a6 H2 Q; V: e ( G" f O" s4 p, H& G) y 她姐姐当时不在家，可那名妇女催得急，无奈之下她同意一起去工作的地方看看。但汽车开出了一个多小时，苏亚雷斯从此就再也没有回过家。 5 R0 O0 i" O+ b& ~6 ?* g1 \
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最后，她被那名妇女领到安塞莫•科瓦卢比亚斯的屋子里。这人已经六十多岁了。她获准打电话给姐姐，说自己找到了工作，过不了多久就可以回去。随后，科瓦卢比亚斯的一只手抓住了电话。苏亚雷斯发现现实不是她所想像的那样。她回忆说：“他说他为我出了200美元，我是他的奴隶。”她被领进了一间小屋，科瓦卢比亚斯在那里强奸了她。 ( s/ m+ G8 A9 }0 h8 o" I& I
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可怜的苏亚雷斯当时根本不敢逃跑，因为科瓦卢比亚斯告诉她他是巫师，知道她的家人的住处。如果她胆敢逃跑或向别人告密，他就会杀死她的全家，把她家的房子烧掉。从此，苏亚雷斯地狱般的日子开始了。她经常得忍受科瓦卢比亚斯对她的精神和肉体的双重摧残。科瓦卢比亚斯之前也买过其他的年轻女子。苏亚雷斯的磨难始于上世纪70年代，类似的悲惨遭遇如今在美国继续上演。在如今的美国，每天有成千上万的女性像她一样，过着悲惨的性奴生活，人们对她们的境遇常常视而不见。 0 k5 |5 a m, E2 d# x$ y0 Z1 w3 Q" ^+ I+ j
每年有大约1.7万人被贩卖到美国，从事苦工或沦为性奴隶，其中许多人都是十几岁或年龄更小。像苏亚雷斯这样在美国国内遭贩卖的人也非常多。从全球范围讲，拐卖人口正迅速接近贩卖毒品和军火，成为最有利可图的犯罪活动。 + J2 O# ]+ ~1 z- c" I0 S6 a' @& B% K
苏亚雷斯悲惨的性奴生活持续了5年。在这5年当中，她并非完全被囚禁在屋内。科瓦卢比亚斯替她在一家电子工厂找了一份工作，每天开车接送她上下班。每当周五，他就把她做工得来的报酬拿走。苏亚雷斯又惊又怕，但她迷信有关巫师的说法，所以不敢把自己的遭遇告诉任何人。 5 }* b$ F5 |0 O: k; E 2 q2 Z: x ]( |$ U. c 2000年，美国国会通过了《人口贩卖受害者保护法》，支持政府起诉贩卖人口者和保护受害者。但执法机构对贩卖人口问题缺乏认识，往往不能辨别出受害者。执法机构的错误判案令苏亚雷斯付出了更惨重的代价。科瓦卢比亚斯将车库的一个房间租给了一对年轻夫妇。不久，他开始骚扰那名年轻女子。一天夜里，苏亚雷斯听到科瓦卢比亚斯在外面惨叫。当她冲出去时，发现年轻男子在用木棒猛击科瓦卢比亚斯，并把他打死了。那名男子要苏亚雷斯把带血的木棒洗干净，再放到屋子里，她照做了。很快，他们3人都被捕。 ' d1 g6 d; M/ ?8 s# ^# V+ m
* V8 g$ o9 n8 A' q, l 苏亚雷斯被控一级谋杀，被判25年徒刑。在狱中度过22年之后，苏亚雷斯于2003年被释放。但她的磨难还没有终结，她出狱之后立即被关入联邦看守所。按照美国移民法的规定，任何被判有罪的非美国公民，不论他们是否遭错判，都必须被驱逐出境。但美国有关人口贩卖受害者的签证规定，令她得以暂时喘口气。按照这项规定，人口贩卖受害者能获得一种特殊的签证，可以在美国居留3年，之后可以申请绿卡。但这项规定本身并未完善。苏亚雷斯的特殊签证快到期了，除非她能得到洛杉矶市市长的特赦，否则她将被遣返。“困在笼子里的感受非常痛苦……许多人仍在忍受跟我一样的磨难。”她说。 ; o8 \5 b; N& ] M# H: A! A. s% y4 |6 C! W' l* y t! a- Y' d
- r& h% n3 n2 IOnce a slave in the US, still fighting for her freedom7 Y& {/ [( c. @; V% t! I
María Suárez survived life as a sex slave for five years in Los Angeles. There are thousands more like her.+ B% g4 f C4 T$ P3 g
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For María Suárez, a young Mexican, America turned out to be anything but the land of opportunity. When the 15-year-old came to the United States legally in 1976 to stay with her sister in Los Angeles, she was full of dreams. But those dreams turned into a nightmare within two weeks, when the teen was sold into slavery. 5 ~$ v) ~/ M0 v- k 5 X2 L$ Y) E1 e2 I* A- L) ^Thirty years later, the courageous woman is still confronting the consequences of that domestic servitude and is fighting for the freedom and opportunity to remain in America, where all her family resides. : I3 _1 ]7 r, _; K2 |8 G3 S. J; b* O# K5 E" p/ u& k. ^
Ms. Suárez became the sex slave of an older man who had bought other young girls before her. Thousands of women are living in similar circumstances in the US today, often invisible though sometimes in plain view. Yet Suárez's story is unique in that her five years of violation and beatings led to a longer incarceration. 5 I' s1 k0 B) _( d0 t2 _
4 v5 L% }& ?2 {5 yThe young girl arrived from her village in Michoacán a bit overwhelmed by the new country. Her sister, Rita, had lived in Los Angeles for years, but María knew no English and admits she was naive "and ignorant." 7 i# x- j" p. h/ H) r7 P+ I* a
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"A [Spanish-speaking] woman approached me on the street – she was very friendly – and offered me a job cleaning house and answering phones," Suárez says in a telephone interview. "It sounded like a good idea, and I was very happy." 9 E8 b7 Y, c( R/ H # w8 p: _, W Y- ~- y) SSince her sister wasn't home at the time, she agreed to the woman's urging that she just come see the house where she would work. But the drive took more than an hour, and María never went home again. 1 f( N' M) M O: b0 C5 n5 n: x% z
At the house of Anselmo Covarrubias, a man in his late 60s, she was allowed to call her sister to say she had a job and would be back later. But a lock was then put on the phone, and she learned otherwise. 4 h$ U, R/ y$ D/ ~4 \+ F c4 f5 i2 I0 N4 k0 G5 t8 K
"He told me he had paid $200 for me and that I was his slave," Suárez says. She was shown a tiny room with a bed and an altar with a picture of Jesus Christ above it but many other strange items on it. He then raped her. . E [& C* W z" B9 F* p- A
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"He told me he was a witch, that he knew where my family lived, and I'd better not tell anyone or he would kill my family, burn down their house," she adds. "From then on, my hell started. He abused me mentally, emotionally, physically, and sexually."
