Man Sells Daughter for 100 Cases of Corona and More

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-01-15 09:00:00 UTC
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From illinoisphoto.comPerhaps you've heard about this recent case in California, a member of the indiginous Mexican Trique community arranged a marriage with his 14-year-old daughter in exchange for the following:

  • $16,000 cash

  • 100 cases of Corona

  • 50 cases of Modelo

  • 50 cases of soft drinks

  • 50 cases of Gatorade

  • Six bottles of wine

  • Several cases of unspecified meat

Other than being ready to serve up some rather unappealing punch, the man broke California state law, which states that children must be at least 16 to marry with parental consent.  He also may have attepmted to traffick his daughter into a servile marriage.

The police department investingating the case is trying to be "culturally sesitive" to the man's Trique culture.  According to Jonathan Fox, a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has worked extensively with indigenous immigrants,

"This is certainly not the first such case I've heard of," he said of the marriage involving an underage girl.

So is this human trafficking?  Or is it a cultural issue? At what point to the rights of this young girl and California state law trump the cultural practices of the Trique tribe?  I'll post my thoughts on this case, but would love to hear what you think first.

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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