Young rape victim pressurised by the church to give birth

Young rape victim pressurised by the church to give birth

Image: Pixabay

Young rape victim pressurised by the church to give birth in Bolivia.

The rape victim is only 11-years-old. The church has reportedly applied pressure to prevent an abortion. According to reports, the church managed to convince the young girl’s mother to prevent an abortion in exchange for financial support. The young girl had wanted to get an abortion.

Bolivia has seen feminist groups take to the streets. They are hitting out against the Catholic Church in Bolivia. They believe that the church has applied pressure to prevent an 11-year-old victim from having an abortion.

One protester said: “I’m going to fight and I’m going to make my voice heard for all the girls who can’t speak.”

Another protester commented: “We want to give our support to the girl and also repudiate the double standards of the hypocritical and paedophilic Church.”

The girl had expressed her intention to have an abortion. She had been abused by her stepfather’s father. Reportedly the Catholic church convinced the girl’s mother to prevent an abortion. Financial support was reportedly offered in exchange for preventing the abortion.

Diego Pla, deputy secretary general of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference commented: “We urge the public authorities to respect and protect the right to life and health of the girl who was the victim of rape.”

The government believes that the church should not intervene in these matters. Marianela Prada, Minister of the Bolivian Presidency explained: “It is not possible for them to get involved in this way to decide about a girl who has been the victim of sexual abuse,”

Nydia Pesantes, the Bolivian representative of UN Women commented: “A girl is a girl and girls are not meant to get pregnant, to give birth.”


Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

Comments