Two years after tragedy, can Guatemala rethink child protection?
Vianney Claret Hernández says she tried everything within her family’s means to help her daughter Ashley thrive. She built a sand-filled punching bag where Ashley could express her anger safely and applied for scholarships for a private school where staff might have more luck keeping her engaged.
On nights when Ashley disappeared from home, Ms. Hernández would jump into action, calling her daughter’s friends or showing up at their front doors.
Finally, when a judge ordered Ashley into a state-run home for youth, Ms. Hernández says she felt it was the right move.
“I had exhausted all of my resources, and I truly believed the state could offer Ashley the psychological support and [educational] training that I couldn’t,” she says.
But on March 8, 2017, one month after entering the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción, 14-year-old Ashley and 55 other teen girls were trapped when an overcrowded room caught fire. They’d been put there as punishment after trying to
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