American Dirt

The migrant experience presents risks for all travelers—robbery, kidnapping, and accidental maiming—but for women and girls making the trip north, the threat of sexual violence is never far away. There are numerous instances of sexual violence in the novel, all of which provide insights into the migrant experience from a distinctly female perspective. Rape in American Dirt is emphasized as an act of power, not of sexuality. Cummins first alludes to the subject in Chapter 12, when Luca witnesses a verbal altercation at the Casa del Migrante in Huehuetoca. Padre Rey and his helper, Néstor, confront Lorenzo in the hallway outside the men’s dormitory and demand he leave the sanctuary. Lorenzo defends himself against accusations, obliquely referencing sexual assault: “This is bullshit, Padre, that puta is lying” (118).

Cummins spells out the nature of the attack in the following chapter, when Lydia overhears Neli and Julia discussing the rape of a 16-year-old Salvadoran girl at breakfast. The teenager reportedly “didn’t want to make a fuss” (126), but Julia interrupted Lorenzo and “chased him away from her” (126). The impact of the assault is apparent on the young victim, who keeps her shoulders “rolled in so far toward each other that her body seems to be trying to swallow itself” (126). As the conversation continues, the reader learns that the Salvadoran girl did not defend herself, “like she knew there was nothing she could do if he’d made up his mind” (127). Neli uses the term cuerpomático, referring to sex as a form payment. When Ixchel seeks clarification, Neli and Julia explain that the female body “is an ATM machine” (128) for getting north. Julia confesses she has already paid twice.

Another instance of sexual assault is the gang rape of Soledad and Rebeca in Chapter 21. Although the reader is only privy to the events immediately preceding and following the attack, the violence of the incident is abundantly clear. Corrupt immigration officials grope the sisters before separating them from the group and loading them onto a truck. Lydia pretends she is their mother and begs an agent to let the girls travel with her. The agent luridly responds, “Don’t worry […] We’ll give the girls a ride” (225) before slamming the van door in Lydia’s face. The sisters arrive at the warehouse hours later battered and traumatized: “The girls do not look well […] They’re both limp—all the flinch has gone out of them” (229). Soledad’s rape is so violent she later miscarries.

This experience with sexual violence is not the first or last for the sisters. In Honduras, Soledad fell in with Iván, a violent gang member who raped her repeatedly. Iván threatened to rape Rebeca, prompting the girls to flee the country. In Chapter 34, Lorenzo tries to rape Rebeca when she leaves the desert cave to urinate. She initially fights her attacker, but eventually gives in, like the Salvadoran girl in Huehuetoca. El Chacal and Soledad interrupt the assault, but the cumulative trauma of sexual violence leads Soledad to shoot and kill Lorenzo, turning her into a murderer. The sisters’ experiences have a transformative impact. Gone are the vivacious girls Lydia and Luca first encountered in Chapter 14. In their place are two traumatized individuals numb to the violence inflicted upon them.