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Kaylyn Rivas

English 101

9 May 2018

Professor Holly Batty

The Border With My Blood And Sacrifice

People dream of crossing the border just for a better life in the United States. Their dream

is to be able to create a family, get a job, develop a new life for themselves as well for their

children and to be happier than where they are now. When crossing the border, it isn’t as easy as

it looks or seems. People go through sexual abuse, exhaustion, starvation, drug abuse, and human

hazards. In the book Still Water Saints a character named Rodrigo encountered sexual abuse

while crossing the border when an older man basically owned him as a slave. As a result,

Rodrigo may seem delicate and easy to control throughout the novel but he does find a way to

escape through a terrifying experience when passing the border.

Crossing the border can lead to many consequences and one of them is sexual abuse.

Sexual abuse is also known as molestation which is unwanted sexual behavior by one person to

another. It can happen to both men and women of any age. There are many different acts of

sexual abuse and they are, sexual touching of any part of the body with or without clothes on,

unwanted penetrative sex including penetrative of the mouth, threatening or encouraging a child

to engage in sexual activity. There might even be items involved while sexual abuse for example

toys and other items, as well as lubricant or baby oil. In the book, Rodrigo was forced to dance

undressed for men in order to get money. Unfortunately Rodrigo didn't choose to live the life he

did when involved with sex trafficking.

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There are several ways to speak to those that have gone through these kinds of

experiences. When someone comes forward to you asking what they should do or saying what

they been through, it might leave you at shock but you don’t want to make them feel like they’re

alone. So as a listener of someone speaking to you about the nightmare that they went through,

you must be supportive and non-judgemental. It may be tremendously difficult for those to share

their story but you should always make them feel that they aren’t the ones to blame. Throughout

Rodrigo’s exposure to being held as a slave, he seeks for help from an older woman named Perla.

Perla is known as a curandera which in English is called a healer. She owns a Botánica named

Oshún which is a store that sells spiritual items like charms, potions, sage, and remedies. Ever

since Rodrigo’s crossing and everything he went through, Perla was able to help Rodrigo escape

from his tragic living by giving him shells as a weapon to escape from being held captive. She

was also kind enough to help him by taking care of him and allowing him to sleep at her

Botánica.

Rodrigo was in a position where two men named Beady and Juan that visited the

Botánica while Rodrigo and Perla were there and Rodrigo had ran away because of how

frightened he was by those men. Rodrigo is and will always be afraid of any men he approaches

or approach him because of his traumatic crossing dealing with the male predator that tortured

him to being a sex trafficker. In my opinion, I can’t imagine what others have been through when

being abused. It’s scary to think that there is predators out in the world that can harm anyone

they see, and threaten those to not say a thing or else they would hurt them or someone else they

know.

In the article “Understanding Extortion, Blackmail in Divorce” it discusses the way

predators threaten and force victims to do something inappropriate or unwanted just to receive a
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reward for themselves. These victimis find themselves experiencing a situation they are

uncomfortable or unusual with because some may have not experienced or know what is going

on. As for Rodrigo, he was only 15 years old when he was crossing the border. Rodrigo had no

clue he would be the one to be owned and used to be a sex trafficker.

In the article “Helping Someone Who Has Been Sexually Abused” it teaches and tells

you the correct way to speak someone that has approached you with their feelings and thoughts

of what they went through. Some people might want to talk about what it in order to let it out and

try to let it go, or may want to just get help. In the book, Perla was the one to help Rodrigo

escape the predator and give him the help that he needed when he was able to escape.

Unfortunately Rodrigo ran away from the Botanica when Beady and Juan arrived.

In the article “Male Survivors of Sexual Assault” it talks about how common sexual

assault of males, how men react to being sexaully assaulted, and how men are supposed to

behave living in a society. It is to be true that most common places to be sexually assaulted are in

prisons. The way men react to being sexually assaulted isn't their fault because they feel blamed,

depressed or angry, may have confusion, anxiety especially if they have the fear to be around

other men and even suicidal thoughts. This article basically describes how Rodrigo had felt when

he was in the same room with two other men (Beady and Juan).

As for my personal life, I have an aunt that was sexually abused when she was only four

years old and it continued till she was in the fifth grade. She was a young child at the time and

didn't know exactly what was going on or what was from right wrong. My aunt was threatened

most of her childhood by the predator that was raping her almost everyday of half of her

childhood. The predator was finally arrested when my grandmother had got home early from

work and seen him leaving my aunts room. My grandmother immediately called the police and
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pressed charges because little did they know, he was a family friend. Till this day my aunt is and

will continue to not trust anyone because you might not expect it from others. Especially to the

fact that my aunt continued to grow and be strong through what she had gone through because

she did go through drug abuse after experiencing that at such a young age. My aunt now

understands that she wasn't the reason or fault that it happened. She now has four children, living

her best life being a wife and mother.

Overall, the message I believe that we will learn from this character is that life isn’t easy

when you want it to be because not everything goes as planned. Like the meaning “Life is like a

rollercoaster” because roller coasters go up, down, side to side, and sometimes you’ll go up from

being at a happy moment then down to emotional moment just like Rodrigo did when he tried to

cross the border but it didn’t end up the way he thought it was going to be. Especially

experiencing sex trafficking at a young age when one's mind is barley developing and being able

to understand what is going on. Although some might argue, but there is people that are scared

to speak up for themselves when being threatened and that just leads them to overthinking,

anxiety, suicidal attempts, and some that are strong to continue to grow and prosper after a

terrifying journey.

“Understanding Extortion, Blackmail in Divorce.” Men's Divorce, 26 May 2017,

mensdivorce.com/extortion-blackmail-divorce/.

“Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center.” Common Reactions to Sexual Assault |
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Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, sapac.umich.edu/article/53.

“Helping Someone Who Has Been Sexually Abused.” Mental Health Matters, Mental Health

Matters, 14 Apr. 2016, mental-health-matters.com/helping-someone-who-has-been-sexually-

abused/.