A 10-year-old Paraguayan girl and five months pregnant, raped by her stepfather, was refused an abortion and was admitted to a hospital in Asuncion where there are five teenage mothers or about to give birth.
Amnesty International launched a campaign to abortion is permitted. Abortion is prohibited by the Constitution of Paraguay. However, it is tolerated by the Criminal Code up to 20 weeks in case of danger to the mother.
Weighing only 34 kg before pregnancy, the girl, who will be 11 years old on May 25, “is in danger,” the NGOs specialized in human rights and headquartered in London.
Not a chance. Justice as the local authorities, supported by the Catholic Church and various civil organizations, have strongly rejected this option, arguing in particular the advanced state of pregnancy (23 weeks).
Doctors say that the girl is well and that the pregnancy is “normal”. “She has no pain or complications,” said Dr. Dolores Castellanos, head of the Childhood and Adolescence Service of the Hospital of the Red Cross in Asuncion.
Dr. Castellanos, entrusted by the Ministry of Health to follow the very young expectant mother, describes it as “small”, friendly and affable “It measures 1.39 m and gaining weight. 34, it reaches 40 kilos. ” However, she warned about the risks of low weight and high power “as for all those who design at an early stage.”
“We already had other experiences. Last year, a 10 year old girl has given birth. She has recovered well,” according to the doctor.
At the hospital, the raped girl, whose mother is notably accused of neglect in detention, joined five females 13, 14 and 16, who have given birth or are preparing to do so.
“It is the smallest,” said Dr. Castellanos, who prescribed a diet rich in protein, iron, calcium and fluids, and recommended a normal exercise inside the home for mothers of the Red Cross.
“Every day, two girls aged 10 to 14 give birth” in Paraguay, according to UN child protection agency, Unicef, has warned of this problem.
“These cases are a result of sexual abuse and, in most situations, to face repeated sexual abuse to which victims have not received timely and appropriate protection”, explained Andrea Cid, head of UNICEF in Paraguay.
According to her, 650 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth and 20,000 girls aged 15 to 19 became pregnant in 2014.
Unusually, the latest case has provoked a debate in Parliament, elected requiring a report to the Ministry of Health. And minority left-wing parties have called for the decriminalization of abortion.
But for the Health Minister, Antonio Barrios, a former family physician conservative President Horacio Cartes, the case is heard: “Pregnancy is not interrupted. Abortion was totally excluded,” he insisted this week.
The girl is hospitalized since her mother took her check on April 21 for abdominal tumor suspicion. Investigations have revealed an advanced pregnancy. She then accused his stepfather, aged 42 and now on the run, of raping her.
“The child was still in the hands of this man because his mother worked, employed in a school canteen. It was he who took care of her. He even went to the student parent meetings. She was totally at its thank you,” said prosecutor Monalisa Muñoz.
