Gang Culture In Lima
Carol Ruiz works with WOMANKIND partners Calandria. Recently her work has taken her to the Comas area of Lima where there have been a lot of fights between rival gangs. There are about 150 gangs in Comas, some all boys, some all girls and some mixed. Membership spread from 13 to 30 year olds. The gangs fight for any reason: territory, football, schools – Carol says it is all about needing to assert your identity and feel that you belong.
Calandaria created a ‘consultation space’ for young people to discuss youth issues with representatives of the local authority, youth organisations and the gangs – the young people organised a youth festival with leadership programmes and sports programmes. The consultation had a big impact on the area and the local authority started special programmes for gang members, helping them to improve their local environment whilst developing skills that would help them find work.
Liana Ascama has also worked in Comas, through Calandria. Her work focused on youth culture, and places on the project were offered mostly to young people and women, as both these groups face a lot of disadvantages in Peruvian society. The project produced a series of TV programmes in a ‘soap’ format, looking at the issues that the young people on the project identified as important to them. The series was made up of eleven 45 minute episodes looking at:
- Youth violence
- Sexual violence
- Cultural identity
- Employment
- Work
- Abortion
- Political participation
- Alcoholism
- Drugs
- Access to education
- Falling in love
