Child Pornography and Human Trafficking: Cancun's Dark Side

In many of Mexico's states, violence against women is still not considered a crime, and freedom of the press remains elusive. Journalists are often targeted and killed simply for telling the truth. Last year alone, Mexico saw the deaths of 10 journalists, according to the World Press. And Lydia Cacho Ribeiro knows that, any day, she could be one of them.

Cacho, one of Mexico's leading defenders of women's and children's rights, often risks her own life to tell the stories of those who cannot speak out for themselves. An investigative journalist and gender-based violence specialist, Cacho runs a crisis center and shelter in Cancun, a spring break hotspot where white, sandy beaches and breathtaking coastal views give way to a harsher reality -- one of sexual exploitation, domestic violence, human trafficking and child pornography. Her 2005 book, "The Demons of Eden," exposes Cancun as a destination for child sex tourism.

Throughout her 20-plus years of investigative and advocacy work, Cacho has received innumerable death threats, and in 1999, was raped in an attempt to silence her. But those attempts, she says, have only made her stronger and more sensitive to the needs of victims of violence. Cacho was the 2007 recipient of the Ginetta Sagan Human Rights Award from Amnesty International USA. Her next book on trafficking will be released in 2008.

AlterNet spoke with Cacho via telephone.

Heather Gehlert: You live in a country where journalists don't enjoy many protections and often risk their lives just for writing the truth. What made you want to become a journalist, and how long have you been doing this?

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro: Well, actually, I guess I started my career path when I was a little girl. My mom was a feminist and a psychologist. She used to work in Mexico City, and she would take us with her -- me and my sisters and brothers -- to play with the kids while she talked to the women and worked with them in the human rights and stuff like that. I learned very early in life that a lot of the kids my age were -- would probably never be able to write their names or tell their stories, and I kept asking my mother, "How come they cannot do that?" And her answer was always that I was lucky enough to get an education, and I had a responsibility to these people who might never have one.

HG: So your main interest has pretty much always been human rights?

LCR: I guess so. I mean, that's how they call them now. I just call it being a good person.

HG: In your most recent book, "The Demons of Eden," you expose a ring of child prostitution and pornography in Cancun. How did you become aware that this was happening?

LCR: There was this young woman that went to the police and told them she had been raped since she was 13, and now she knew that the guy who used her also for child pornography was still doing that to other kids, including her little sister and her neighbor. So, as with what happens in many, many cases in Mexico, the police leaked this information -- the words of the kid -- to some of the local press in Cancun. So, I learned about the case in the local press first, and I started writing about it -- talking about the rights of the victim. And pretty soon this young woman looked for me and she asked me for help as a journalist. She said she wanted somebody to tell her side of the story because the press was distorting the story and saying that the kids were provoking this pedophile. I never, ever thought I was gonna write a book about that. I've been working as a journalist for many years, and I almost never write about the victims unless they tell me they want to share their stories.

HG: When you were arrested in 2005, after the book was published, the police drove you to a jail about 20 hours from your home. What was going through your mind at the time? What were these people telling you on the way?