Mexican journalist and author Lydia Cacho received the Tully Free Speech Award at a ceremony in Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium Tuesday. The award honored Cacho for her ‘compassion and bravery’ in journalism, even in the face of death threats and imprisonment.

‘We can change the world,’ said Cacho about her compassion for reporting.

Students and faculty listened to a conversation between Cacho and Barbara Fought, director of Syracuse University’s Tully Center for Free Speech, about Cacho’s struggle to protect her freedom of speech as a reporter. The Tully Free Speech Award is presented every year to a journalist who has faced threats for efforts to promote free speech.

Cacho has worked through her reporting to expose the problems of sexual trafficking and child pornography that existed in Mexico.

‘I didn’t want to portray false realities,’ Cacho said.

Cacho exposed a powerful child pornography ring protected by Mexican politicians and businessmen in 2005 in her first book, ‘The Demons of Eden: The Power that Protects Child Pornography.’

After publication, Cacho received death threats from members involved with the sex trafficking network. She said they threatened her life, demanding that she deny the content of the publication. Yet, Cacho said she was unwilling to give up her freedom of speech and continued reporting, she said.

‘I had already made a personal, ethical commitment to the girls,’ Cacho said.

Cacho began telling international organizations, like Amnesty International and Penn International, about the threats she was receiving in hopes of informing people of what was happening in Mexico.

After refusing to deny the content, Cacho was arrested outside of her office by Mexican police. Because the international organizations knew about the threats made to Cacho, they placed political pressure on the Mexican government to release her unharmed. The spread of her story through other media organizations saved her life, Cacho said.

‘I thought I was going to die,’ she said. ‘Reporting my story saved my life.’

Even after the death threats, Cacho said she decided to stay in Mexico because of the effect her reporting could have, especially on the women and children involved in sex trafficking and child pornography.

‘I really enjoy when I see someone that is telling me that their life has changed because of what I do, I am really happy,’ Cacho said.

It was that determination to report reality that inspired some who attended the ceremony.

‘She works so hard. She inspires me to stand up for what I believe and work hard toward what I want and never give up,’ said Alison Grimes, a junior Spanish major.

Cacho is still living in Mexico and is currently promoting her latest publication, a book about child sex trafficking. She is continuing reporting about child sex trafficking despite recent harassment and death threats received via her blog.

eamaher@syr.edu

Published on February 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm