Carlos Guajardo
01/09/2021 17:40
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 01/09/2021 17:43
"I was not in front of a man, I was in front of a monster
.
"
That is the phrase with which Laura (30) sums up the nightmare she lived for at least 12 years, in which she was abused and raped by her adoptive father.
He spoke exclusively with
Clarín
from the study of Jovita Vivar, his lawyer in the heart of Río Gallegos, the capital of Santa Cruz.
The case touches the entire country since the abuses
began at age 9
and continued until age 21. The defendant is an Air Force noncommissioned officer and every time he abused the girl he said "
I'm not your dad, I'm your lover
".
He is detained and processed.
She remembers it like this: “He always told me that he wasn't my dad, that he was someone else.
It happened during the abuse. "For those terrible years he could not finish school. And he told
Clarín
that he will make several decisions, but one of them to alleviate his soul a little more:
" I'm going to change my last name
. "
The interview with Clarín
-
How do you feel now that you are in prison?
- Inside everything I feel good.
I have a little more relief.
It is not the relief I expected but I am better.
More than anything because justice is being done with something that hurt me, that ruined my whole life.
But yes, with relief.
-
Would you be calmer if he was convicted?
- Honestly yes.
It is a peace that I am looking for within myself.
He did something that he has to pay for.
Once the trial begins and he is convicted it would be another relief.
-
Do you think that with time you will be able to overcome what happened to you?
- It is damage that remains for life.
It cannot be overcome even with the passage of time.
There are times when I wake up and still think about what my day will be like, what things will happen to me.
And that I felt during those years.
One day I wake up fine, another day depressed.
But even though I know you can get out, it's something you can't completely beat.
It is not a thing that one can say “it has already happened, it has already happened.” It leaves you marked because it is something that will always remain inside.
-
This started when you were 9 years old. What did you think at the time?
- I knew it was something that should not be done.
But I was scared because the way he treated me was aggressive.
I didn't understand much then.
He didn't know if he should stop or not, do it or not.
And he was also scared as to what his reaction would be if I refused.
-
And when you grew up did you become more aware?
- Yes, but it was the same.
His treatment with me was always aggressive and so I was still afraid of him.
Fortunately I can say that not today.
I can stand in front of him and face him.
But when I lived with him, my fear was constant.
Now the memories remain.
They are always going to be in the head no matter how much therapy I do or fill in.
- And how did you decide to talk?
- A sister told me that he was not my father.
That he adopted me when I was three.
And then they were born.
That's when I knew he wasn't my biological father.
-
Did he take you with him to the barracks when he was on duty?
- Yes, he was taking me.
- And those phrases that I told you about that he was not your father, that he was going to kill you and commit suicide, that you do not speak, were they constant?
- Usually he told me when he abused me.
"I'm not your dad, I'm someone else."
And besides, he used to punish me.
He was not a man, he was a monster.
And I always wondered why it was my turn.
Because I had to go through this if I had never done anything.
I always tried to be a good daughter.
He is obviously a sick person because of what he did.
I consider him a monster.
- Now you work and you say you are calmer, do you think you lead a normal life?
- It's that I try not to think about what happened to me even though I can't.
I try to focus on other things.
And live from day to day.
I have no other.
Maybe when I'm working serving the public I entertain myself.
But I get home and there are times when everything starts again.
And I vent.
-
What sentence do you want for him?
- Let him spend the rest of his life in jail.
I couldn't even finish school because of everything that happened to me, but now I plan to continue, do other things, make other decisions.
-
Like what?
- The first, change my last name.
I don't want to carry the last name of the one who ruined my childhood and my life.
In addition to abusing me, he permanently attacked me physically.
It's all very difficult for me.
But somehow I have to move on, keep living.
In the last ten years in Argentina there is an average of one femicide every 30 hours.
According to statistics from the Office of Domestic Violence of the Supreme Court, in 2018 alone there were 278. Most murders occur in the homes of victims and are committed by partners or exes.
Where to call
Line 144
Care for women in situations of violence.
Line 137
Attention to Victims of Family Violence.
911 Emergencies