It is an event that breaks with the scheme. The protagonists of this story are only 6 years old! And that forces, in the telling of the facts, to save many details. But the little that can be told - in this exercise of containment - is enough to give an idea of the hell suffered by a girl who was the victim, at such a young age, of repeated sexual assaults allegedly committed by three of her classmates, the same fifth of hers.
It has happened in a town in Badajoz. “Psychologists and psychiatrists have already reported that it is impossible for a 6-year-old girl to invent the facts she tells,” says Juan Carlos Caso, spokesperson for the Extremadura School Bullying Association (Acoes), which is the one that uncovered this cruel bullying in a public school in Montijo.
“It was sustained harassment throughout the entire last year,” Caso denounces, “the girl was dragged behind some hedges in the school yard (now they have cut down those bushes), in an area where the students They know it as 'the lair.'" And there, within the school grounds, those three 6-year-old children allegedly subjected their classmate to all kinds of humiliation and abuse.
“We are only telling half of what they did to him, without anyone from that center (Virgin de Barbaño school) noticing those attacks,” criticizes the Acoes spokesperson. "They lifted the girl's skirt, pulled down her panties, inserted her fingers, rubbed her genital area with sand and stones, pulled on her vulva until she bled..."
And many more things that are not revealed and that in recent months that girl has been telling the psychologists and psychiatrists who are treating her. Because after what she suffered, she needs assistance.
Juan Carlos Caso insists: “No one questions the story, it would be impossible for a girl who is only 6 years old to be able to tell what she (the victim) has narrated if that had not happened to her.” And the question: If this happened last year, why hasn't action been taken until now?
“Well, very easy,” responds the Acoes spokesperson, “the little girl's parents were not aware of the seriousness of the events until the end of the course, when the girl said to her mother, on the first day of vacation: “That's great, "I'm not going back to this school."
The parents began to pull the string and the little girl little by little told the professionals who treated her about the hell she had experienced at that school last year.
And it has been now, after that slow and painful process, when the parents have reported (nothing happens here because those accused are unimpeachable) and demanded explanations from the school.
Two of the children identified have been transferred to another center by their parents, so there is only one of the alleged harassers of this girl left.
Abel Domínguez, child and adolescent psychologist and director of Domínguez Psicoluciones, points out that this type of behavior “is really rare, due to the age of the protagonists, since they go beyond what would be their own exploration or curiosity, as far as to sex, of 6-year-old boys and girls.”
An explanation for this “bizarre” story or behavior could be that some of these children “have suffered this type of sexual abuse from other older children or even adults; "that they have already seen this type of behavior (a very early introduction to pornography) or that these minors have few limits at home or no psychosexual education."
Úrsula Perona, child psychologist, shares thesis when answering the same question. How is it possible for children as young as 6 to go so far? “At that age, in theory, knowledge about sexuality is very limited,” she says.
"The normal thing would be for things to be nothing more than exploratory games (looking at each other's genitals, for example), but not what has been reported." So, he continues, in this case we would have to see if these children are suffering from some special situation themselves (the abusers) or investigate other indicators to know why they have had such disruptive behavior at such a young age."
At this point, Juan Carlos Caso considers that it should be the parents of the alleged aggressors (the Prosecutor's Office has filed the complaint filed by the girl's parents) “who are responsible for such cruel behavior of the children.” Acoes does not rule out, on the other hand, filing a civil complaint – as criminal proceedings are impossible – against those responsible for the school.
This newspaper tried to contact that center on countless occasions yesterday, without a response. The Extremadura Government did report that measures have already been taken.
This anti-bullying association also wonders if the two children who have changed schools “have any control in the new center.”
Abel Domínguez points out that this is essential “to make them understand the seriousness of these behaviors and redirect them.” Just as important is, at these ages, "to make an effort so that the victim knows that reporting is the right thing to do and that she is not to blame for what happened."
