Pregnancy in adolescent girls in the Americas

Every year, tens of thousands of girls and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean become pregnant against their will or because of other obstacles such as lack of sex education or access to prevention methods and become mothers at an age when they should be playing. Many of them are forced to continue the pregnancy due to restrictive legislation; family, social or state pressures.

In order to understand and provide strong responses to prevent forced pregnancies in girls and adolescent pregnancies, it is important to understand their dimensions:

Forced child pregnancy:  It occurs when a girl (under the age of 14) becomes pregnant without seeking or desiring it and is denied, hindered, delayed or obstructed from terminating the pregnancy. Forcing a girl who has not finished growing up to carry a pregnancy to term, become a mother and raise a baby must be considered torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as appropriate, under the terms of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (Child Mothers. Pregnancy and forced child motherhood in Latin America and the Caribbean, CLADEM 2016)..

Teenage pregnancy: is the pregnancy that occurs in girls between 15 and 19 years of age. These pregnancies can be caused by different factors, such as lack of access to contraceptive methods, lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education, and many are due to sexual violence.

Forced pregnancy in girls, teenage pregnancy and early motherhood are one of the greatest social, political and economic challenges for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. When a girl and/or adolescent becomes a mother, her sexual and reproductive rights, and her rights to health, education, among others, are violated in the short term. With consequences that affect their development potential in the medium and long term, trapping them in poverty and exclusion.