1998 Guatemala student rapes

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On January 16, 1998 five American students were raped while on a school sponsored trip to Guatemala.^[1] The case led to attention from the highest levels of the American and Guatemalan governments, including then-US president Bill Clinton, and led to concerns about whether the safety of students was adequately protected while traveling abroad.^[2] The students were studying at St. Mary's College of Maryland.^[1][2]

Background[]

The college at the time conducted annual tours for students to Guatemala. The 17-day tours were conducted during the winter recess and were offered for college credit. The school was conducting its third such tour and noted that there had been no problems on either of the previous tours. However, violence against women had been rising in the area. In July 1997, a public bus was hijacked with everyone being robbed and five women, including two American citizens, being raped. Four other American women were raped in Guatemala in other incidents in July and August 1997.^[3]

Details[]

The group of 13 students—12 women and 1 man—along with 2 faculty members and 1 administrator from St. Mary's College arrived in Guatemala without a clear itinerary and without knowing the location of their hotel. Near the end of their trip, they took a tour bus from Guatemala City to the rural community of Xojola, and were passing through Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa on their way back to Guatemala City when they were attacked.^[4] At about 3:30pm on January 16, 1998, their bus was forced off the road by at least four gunmen. Gunshots were fired to force the driver to pull into a ditch alongside the road. The bus was forced into a nearby sugar cane field where it wasn't visible from the road. All of the group were robbed, but the gunmen were disappointed that they weren't carrying more cash. This led the gunmen to escalate the attack from robbery to rape.^[5] The students were frisked and fondled, and five women were then methodically selected to be raped.^[1][2] One was raped on the bus in front of classmates and the other four were raped in the field.^[6][7] The passengers on the bus were required to lie face down as each of the five women, one at a time, were raped multiple times. The women who were raped were aged 19 and 20.^[7] The rape victims returned to the United States on January 17, 1998 with the rest of the group following the next day.^[7]

Criminal trial[]

Two of the rape victims returned to Guatemala in January 1999 to testify against their attackers. The men accused were Cosby Urias, a 37-year-old laborer; Rony Polanco, a 25-year-old driver; and Reyes Guch Ventura, a 25-year-old peddler.^[8] All three men were convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison: 18 years for rape and 10 years for robbery.^[9]

Civil lawsuit[]

Three of the students sued the college, alleging that the college failed to take reasonable steps to protect them. Included as additional defendants were the board of trustees, the college president Jane Margaret O'Brien, and the two professors and administrator who accompanied the group. One victim sued for $5 million; another for $500,000; and third for $250,000.^[10] Accordingly to Lila Grisar, who was one of the plaintiffs and one of the women who was raped, the college was negligent in not knowing about the other women who were raped earlier in 1997. Grisar said she filed the lawsuit to raise awareness of the need for colleges to understand risks and make better decisions.^[4] The lawsuit was eventually settled with Grisar receiving $100,000 (the maximum amount allowed by law); another $65,000; and the third $30,000. O'Brien claimed that the college was not responsible but was willing to settle the lawsuit to avoid the pain to all of going to trial.^[11]

References[]