Colombian street gangs are recruiting girls as young as ten in a sickening trade that sees their virginities auctioned off to drug barons and foreign tourists.

　　The youngsters are plucked from the slums - or communas - into a life of organised crime with the promise of stylish clothes, cocaine and financial help for their families。

　　But once they enter the gang's uncompromising influence, they are ruthlessly protected like the highly profitable commodities they have now become - and threatened with death if they refuse to co-operate。

　　In Medellin, the home town of drug lord Pablo Escobar, whose demand for teenage virgins was notorious, the tradition of offering girls up for orgies with mafia kingpins is depressingly common。

　　Luis Pardo, Director of NGO Corporacion Consultoria de Conflicto Urabano (C3)， which has been investigating the phenomenon over the last year, told The Independent: 'This is a girl’s first [sexual] experience。

　　'They pass from the hands of one capo to other capos and by the end they have become prostitutes.'

　　Perversely, the improvements in security that have revolutionalised Medellin from a drug-ridden war zone to thriving city, have opened it up to sex tourism - and another client base for the gangs。

哥伦比亚黑社会组织幼女拍卖贞操

　　Potential targets in a sickening trade: Girls play in Medellin, Colombia, where street gangs are selling virgins to drug lords and foreign tourists (none of the children here were affected)

　　Clara Ines, the director of Medellin women’s rights NGO Vamos Mujersaid: 'In the context of the war, and in the context of the "narcotisation" of the culture, women have gone from being thought of as sexual objects to becoming merchandise。

　　'Women have become the spoils of war.'

　　The authorities say they are powerless to intervene because of the grip the cartels hold on the street, to the point of charging their own taxes to resolve neighbourly disputes。

　　They also claim they are tied by the silence that surrounds the issue as many of the children enter the trade of their own volition。

　　However, many of those working with the victims say the response of the authorities has been weak。

　　'This phenomenon exists and it is getting worse every day, but there is no state or police action,' says Pardo。

　　Medellin earned its unfortunate reputation as one of the world's most dangerous cities thanks to Pablo Escobar, the most renowned criminal of all time。

　　The city was the fortress of the cocaine king and every day several car bombs could explode as Escobar's cartel went to war with the state. (每日邮报)

　　相关介绍：

　　据英国《每日邮报》报道，哥伦比亚街头匪帮组织幼女拍卖贞操，有些女孩年仅10岁，就被卖给毒枭和外国游客。

　　街头匪帮从贫民窟接触幼女，许诺给她们及其家庭提供漂亮衣服、可卡因和金钱帮助。一旦得手，这些幼女的贞操就会被拍卖。如果她们拒绝合作，匪帮就会以死亡威胁。

　　非政府机构城市冲突协调组织对该情况展开了一年的调查，揭露了拍卖过程。匪帮先提供给可信的客户纸质或电子小册子，册子上的幼女有时多达60名。这些客户之后将得到特殊的识别码，以登录拍卖网站，拍卖价格达5百万比索(约合人民币1万5千元)。拍卖结束后，网站将被关闭，册子将被销毁。

　　该组织的理事长告诉《独立报》，这些少女在一个又一个头目间转手，最后沦为妓女。

　　而哥伦比亚政府称，由于匪帮势力强大，政府无力干涉，同时称很多女孩是自愿的。但哥政府的反应被普遍指责过于软弱。