WUNRN
The Reproductive Health Observatories Network (OSAR), is a
national network that monitors the implementation of Guatemala’s Universal Law
for Family Planning and Sexual Education and the associated improvement of
reproductive health outcomes in Guatemala
Guatemala – Fathers Rape with Impunity,
Increasing Guatemala’s Teen Pregnancies
Photo
by Sarah Bones - International Photojournalist
Author: Anastasia Moloney
BOGOTA, Oct 2, 2015 (Thomson Reuters
Foundation) - In Guatemala, most pregnancies among girls under 14 are the
result of rape at the hands of fathers or other relatives, but often it is the
girl who is forced to leave the family home, and few perpetrators are punished,
said a leading rights campaigner.
Nearly a quarter of all births in Guatemala are
among teenage mothers - one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Latin
America.
"In the majority of cases of sexual
violence against girls, some as young as 10, most are committed by family
members, mainly by the girl's father or stepfather," said Mirna
Montenegro, the head of Guatemala's Sexual and Reproductive Health Observatory
(OSAR).
In 2012, nearly 90 percent of all pregnancies
among Guatemalan girls under 14 involved relatives, including cousins and
uncles, of which 30 percent were the result of rape by fathers, according to
Guatemala's human rights ombudsman.
Despite new laws passed in Guatemala to better
protect against sexual violence, few who commit rape against girls are
punished.
"Getting justice for girls who report
crimes of sexual violence is still a big challenge for us. Often it's the
pregnant girl who is removed from her home and placed in a refuge and not the
perpetrator of the crime," Montenegro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation
in a telephone interview.
According to a 2009 law, sex with a child under
14 is defined as rape, but of the 2,000 reported cases of under-14s getting
pregnant in 2012, only eight resulted in convictions, Montenegro said.
Guatemala's children's prosecutor, Harold
Flores, said the country's high teen pregnancy rate was a "scourge",
and there were few convictions for rape carried out on girls under 14.
"We want girls, who have been victims of
sexual violence, to remain in their home or be under the care of a relative. In
some cases in the past girls were placed in government care and the aggressor
wasn't arrested," he said from Guatemala City.
"It's deplorable that many of these cases
are a result of sexual violence within the nuclear family: stepfathers, uncles,
fathers, and grandfathers. We're reaching more and more girls as soon as we
hear about a case and we have expanded our presence across Guatemala and rural
areas," Flores said.
MACHO SOCIETY
High levels of sexual violence against women
and girls stem from the low status of women, especially indigenous Mayan women,
in Guatemala's patriarchal and macho society.
"Machismo is about men believing a woman
is their property and possession. We've heard fathers say 'She's my daughter
and my property so I will do what I want with her," said Montenegro,
She said gender violence is also a legacy of
Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war when rape was used as a weapon of war.
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth
are the second highest cause of death for 15 to 19 year-old girls globally, and
babies born to adolescent mothers face a 'substantially higher risk' of dying
than those born to women in their early 20s, according to the World Health
Organization.
In Guatemala, teenage pregnancy is most common
among uneducated indigenous girls, especially in poor rural areas.
"Girls in rural areas don't have or know
other options in life. Their lives are limited to finding a partner, having
children and looking after the home," Montenegro said.
Guatemala's high prevalence of child marriage,
where girls can marry at 14 with their parent's consent, also fuels adolescent
pregnancy, Montenegro said.
Guatemala's congress is considering a bill that
would raise the minimum legal age for marriage to 16 for girls and 18 for boys,
with the issue a debating point ahead of the country's presidential election
run-off on Oct. 25.
"For this first time we've seen the issue
of child marriage come up during the election campaign. The majority of
presidential candidates have said they are in favour of raising the minimum age
for marriage," said Montenegro, whose organisation is an alliance of
universities, non-governmental organisations and lawmakers.
Last year, 5,100 girls under 14 became pregnant
in the Central American country, up from 4,354 in 2013, according to OSAR.
One reason for the increase is because hospitals and health providers have to report pregnancies among girls under 14 under a law passed in 2012.