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Crossing Continents: Paraguay's Schoolgirl Mothers

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Paraguay's Schoolgirl Mothers

10/09/2015

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Paraguay's Schoolgirl Mothers

Why is Paraguay facing an epidemic of schoolgirl pregnancies?

More than 700 girls aged 14 and under gave birth in Paraguay last year. Why are girls so vulnerable to abuse, and why are families and the law failing to protect them?

In April, the case of a 10 year old girl who became pregnant after her step-father raped her became front-page news in Paraguay, and across Latin America. Abortion is legal in this small South American nation only if the mother's life is deemed to be in danger. In this case, the authorities ruled there was no threat to the girl, and the pregnancy continued. But this isn't a one-off example of children getting pregnant: more than 700 girls aged 14 and under gave birth in 2014. That's more or less two a day.

The 10 year old's pregnancy spawned a series of demonstrations and huge debate: about abortion, sex education, and the failure of the criminal justice system to prosecute the perpetrators of the abuse of children.

For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly meets some of the schoolgirl mothers, and explores the reasons why Paraguayan girls are especially vulnerable to abuse. Why are families, the state and the law failing to protect them?

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