{"id":258325,"date":"2021-12-06T08:46:43","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T14:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=258325"},"modified":"2021-12-05T21:35:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T03:35:38","slug":"paraguay-child-rape-solution-not-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/paraguay-child-rape-solution-not-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Paraguay has a child rape problem, but the solution is not abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The abortion industry has,\u00a0in some cases<\/a>, successfully pressured pro-life countries in Central and South America to abandon their pro-life principles. Yet other countries, like Paraguay, continue to resist pressure to legalize abortion, leading pro-abortion activists to slam the country for its high rates of child pregnancy, insisting these children need access to abortion.<\/p>\n

A new article in the Guardian<\/a> pointed to a report<\/a> from Amnesty International addressing child pregnancy in Paraguay. According to the report, approximately two girls between the ages of 10 and 14 give birth every single day. Sexual violence against children has reached crisis levels in Paraguay, without a doubt, as Amnesty International made clear.<\/p>\n

“This shocking situation is the result of the direct actions of perpetrators, but also of state failings, such as the absence of appropriate public policies and the failure to enforce existing laws to prevent abuse and provide redress when it does occur,” the press release read. “This Amnesty International research, carried out between 2019 and 2021, found that the highest authorities in Paraguay are not listening to professionals working to address sexual violence against girls. This is putting people who live in situations of vulnerability in danger and leaving them in a labyrinth of human rights violations that, for many survivors, seems to have no way out.”<\/p>\n

Yet according to Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, what these girls need is abortion.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Paraguay House of Representatives holds moment of silence for \u2018tragedy\u2019 of legalized abortion<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“By action and omission, Paraguay is turning its back on its girls and teenagers as they face unimaginable abuses,\u201d she told the Guardian, adding, “Girls have the right to a life free of violence. Forcing someone to continue with a pregnancy, particularly when it is the result of rape, is a form of ill-treatment that can be considered torture.”<\/p>\n

So to Amnesty International, it is not being sexually abused by relatives \u2014 as is most often the case \u2014 that causes violent torture. It’s not having access to abortion.<\/p>\n