In 2011, 465 Mothers Between Ten and Fourteen Years Old Were Reported in Jalisco Gloria Leticia Diaz - Proceso
go to original February 9, 2013

Child rape survivors in a shelter in Colonia San Rafael, in Mexico City. (Miguel Dimayuga)

Mexico City - According to data from the National Institute of Statistic and Geography (Inegi), in 2011 11,512 children between the ages of ten and fourteen became mothers and, of those, 318 were only ten years old.

This situation reflects the "level of vulnerability of thousands of children and teenagers in the country," said the Network for Children's Rights in Mexico (Redim).

After noting that the case of the nine year old girl who gave birth in the state of Jalisco is "representative," Redim stressed that it reveals the "existing institutional gaps in Mexico" that have failed to protect children, especially in light of the fact that most cases of teen and child pregnancy result from sexual abuse.

Looking at Inegi's data, Redim explained that in 2011, 465 mothers between ten and fourteen years old were reported in Jalisco.

In Mexico, it said, "teen pregnancy is discriminated against, without any acknowledgment that most cases result from sexual abuse, rape and social isolation."

In the case of Jalisco, it noted, nine out of ten mothers between fifteen and seventeen years old "do not go to school due to discrimination, that is to say that they are denied the right to an education as a way help their current situation, solely because they are mothers."

For Redim, the case of the nine year old girl who gave birth there is "a case of sexual violence, since in any type of sexual relationship with minors there is a power imbalance and it is considered sexual abuse."

The organization condemned the victimization of the child and listed the violations of her human rights, including the lack of recognition that she was a victim of sexual violence, and that she can be identified due to a data leak.

Similarly, it said that the implantation of a contraceptive device in the girl without her mother's consent is very serious, "a violation of her body, and it implies that the girl will have sex again, rather than suggesting preventative action, attention and care."

Redim warned that cases like the girl's will happen again if the Mexican state doesn't implement a Rights Guarantee System for Children with a focus on gender.

It urged the state to take this representative case as "an opportunity to move towards a new institutional approach that really protects children and teenagers."

Redim also encouraged the federal and local Jalisco governments to quickly attend to the child and her family, "offering special protection and preventing her revictimization, and punishing the officials responsible for the disregard for and violation of the rights of this little girl."

It also called attention to the institutional gaps that fail "to prevent and address teen pregnancy, especially for girls from social groups whose rights are most likely to be violated" and urged the state "to update its preventative programs and teen pregnancy care, starting with the recognition of their sexual and reproductive rights."

The organization recommended "moving forward to create a National Rights Guarantee System for Children, understood as an explanation of the public policies, programs and institutions that will take care of our children."

See Spanish original

Posted by Nina at Mexico Voices

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