Michael and his cohorts also control entry to the warmer entrances of the tunnels, sometimes extorting payment. And they pimp for some of the girls, who favor tight, Lurex working clothes. At least one of the young prostitutes in the Gara de Nord recently was in an advanced state of pregnancy. Sebastian is a child. Girls who have been raped by their fathers or other male relatives are often told by these men that they will be killed if they tell anyone of the abuse.
Sexual exploitation continues in the streets, too.
Police grab the plastic bags and pour the glue over the youths' heads and into their eyes. Lopez resists and he is kicked for several minutes. He dies 10 days later, with six broken ribs, a burst liver and bruises over 60 percent of his body. The life of a street child. It is a life filled with both terror and emotional scarring.