Teenage pregnancies rise in Guatemala as girls are deprived of basic sex education, warn healthcare

[Judi Lynn]

Situation places young women on path to poverty and dependence, say experts

Ellen Wulfhorst 4 days ago



Angela is a gangly, giggly teenager in a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and sneakers. She also is the mother of a baby she bore at age 14 when she had sex with her teacher but did not know where babies came from.

“I know they would come from your belly, but I didn't know how you would make them,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in the town of Santo Tomas Milpas Altas about 20 km (12 miles) south west of the capital Guatemala City.

Like Angela, many girls and women in Guatemala have unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of information about sex and their own bodies and endemic violence, according to women's healthcare campaigners.

Guatemala has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Latin America, putting girls on a path to poverty and dependence rather than school or decent work.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/teenage-pregnancies-guatemala-girls-basic-sex-education-contraception-violence-healthcare-a7715406.html