Fathers rape with impunity, fuelling Guatemala's teen pregnancies

Fathers rape with impunity, fuelling Guatemala's teen pregnancies
Published5 hours ago

BOGOTA (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 per cent of all pregnancies among Guatemalan girls under 14 involved relatives, including cousins and uncles, of which 30 per cent 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.

More:
http://www.straitstimes.com/world/americas/fathers-rape-with-impunity-fuelling-guatemalas-teen-pregnancies

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