Behind Closed Doors: The Hidden Crisis of Child Abuse

Child Abuse isn’t always physical torture. It includes all types of torture against children - whether that be mental, emotional, or sexual. It can also be in the form of child neglect and can also include making your child witness frequent over-the-top arguments in the house.

About every other day, I come across or hear some story of parents abusing their children. Sometimes it's verbal abuse that comes in waves of; “You’re worthless!” or “You’re just a waste of our time and money!” In the cases I usually read, the victims are usually in their early to mid-teen years. This means that they are, to an extent, mentally mature enough to be strong and get out of this mess as soon as possible. For example, online, I see a huge number of teenagers taking responsibility and moving out of their abusive households as soon as they come of age. In all these stories, they choose to be strong and work hard enough so that they can make a living of their own.

When I was going through cases, I came across dozens of cases where the abused were just little children. Children who wouldn't even live to see their teenage or pre teenage years. I could not get rid of the thought that these poor children couldn't defend themselves because they were so incredibly naive and that this had always been their life since birth. Such was the case of Elisa Izquierdo, a six-year-old girl whose story completely broke my heart.

Elisa was born in 1989 in Brooklyn to Gustavo Izquierdo and Awilda Lopez. Gustavo was a kind-hearted Cuban immigrant who worked as a chef. He loved and cared for Elisa so much. Awilda, on the other hand, was addicted to alcohol and drugs and would consume such stuff regularly during her pregnancy and postpartum. As a consequence, little Elisa was born with cocaine in her bloodstream. This was the moment when Gustavo finally filed his request for Elisa's complete custody. His request was accepted and he was granted custody.

Gustavo was very new to fatherhood, but that didn't stop him from taking care of Elisa like a princess. Gustavo attended parenting classes and learned from the people around him. Eventually, he became the best father for his little princess. In 1990, Gustavo enrolled Elisa in pre-school.

The following year is when little Elisa’s abuse began. In 1991 Awilda went to court and claimed that she had overcome her drug and alcohol addiction. She demanded visits with Elisa. A few months later she was granted supervised visits with Elisa and eventually granted weekend stays as well. Whenever Elisa was in Awilda’s custody, she would be subject to seriously traumatizing amounts of torture. Elisa's step-siblings would tell their neighbors that Elisa was being beaten and accused of being in a state of demonic influence by Awilda. These neighbors ignored all this talk and never called the authorities. These were the first instances where Elisa could have been saved, but unfortunately, she wasn't.

Following these events, Elisa's teachers soon saw new bruises after she returned from the weekends. Meanwhile, when Gustavo was bathing Elisa he noticed bruises and scars on Elisa’s private areas. Elisa also now frequently started wetting the bed (which she had barely done in months) and started getting ill frequently.

Gustavo then contacted New York Child Welfare and reported all of his observations. Elisa’s teacher also gave her pieces of evidence. Little Elisa herself told one of the social workers about her experience. In 1992 Elisa’s visits to Awilda were suspended.

A few months later when Awilda was allowed to see Elisa again the abuse started again - but this time at an extreme level. Gustavo and his cousin Elsa Canizanes tried their best to protect Elisa. Gustavo decided that he would take Elisa with him to Cuba. 

However, unfortunately, Gustavo died the same day of their flight on 26th May 1994 due to cancer. Elsa fought hard for Elisa’s rights but in the end, Awilda won custody of Elisa.

Elisa was constantly being failed by child welfare authorities. By this point, Awilda was a mother to five children, excluding Elisa. The abuse started again but this time it would end in little Elisa's death.

Elisa was now taken out of her private school and put in a number of different public schools. In school, she was quiet and unresponsive. Her teachers noticed bruises and scars and immediately contacted Child Welfare systems. However, they found the situation to ‘lack evidence’ and be unsubstantiated so they quickly dropped the case. When Awilda got to know of this she removed Elisa from school. This meant that Elisa had nowhere to go to escape her mother's torture anymore. She was locked in her room 24/7 by this point. She wasn’t allowed to use the restroom and was fed her own waste as food. Awilda used to tell everyone who asked about Elisa that she was possessed. Her other children also believed her and were manipulated into not helping Elisa.

The neighbors would hear little Elisa's cries for help begging Awilda to not hurt her. They all ignored Elisa’s screams and went on with their day.

Six-year-old Elisa’s head was used as a mop. She was burnt, beaten, and assaulted by the use of household objects by both Awilda and her husband.

On November 15th, 1995, Awilda said that there was fluid leaking out of Elisa’s nose and mouth.

This was brain fluid.

The next day, Awilda’s neighbor saw little Elisa in a horrifying state and immediately called the emergency services. It was now too late for six-year-old Elisa.

She died on November 22nd, 1995 at just six years of age. Awilda later confessed that she hit Elisa’s head on a concrete wall a few days earlier. The medical examiner saw burns and cuts all over Elisa’s body. An autopsy showed torn genitalia, a torn rectum, and both internal and external trauma. 

For children like Elisa, who may not understand what they are going through, it is important to take a stand for them and explain to them that they should feel free and happy in their environment. When we see signs of abuse or anything out of the ordinary, we must first investigate ourselves and then report to authorities but more importantly,  we must let them know that if someone is hurting them or making them feel unsafe, they should always reach out to a trusted adult. We must program into their brain that it is not their fault that they are going through such torture and that they have the complete right to speak up and ask for help. Making these little innocent children believe that there are people out there who love them, care for them, and support them can empower them to take a stand for themselves and speak up.