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Pregnant teens sit in a health center waiting room in Petén, Guatemala. The health center is run by Tan Ux’il, a youth-friendly partner of Planned Parenthood Global.

Latin America is the only region in the world where births among girls under 15 years old is on the rise. And nearly 90% of pregnancies in girls under 14 years old are the result of rape.

Forcing a girl to carry a pregnancy to term puts her at risk for severe physical and mental health complications, and even death.

Planned Parenthood Global is tackling this issue head-on with a new report and campaign called “Stolen Lives.”

The "Stolen Lives" report was released in late 2015. It summarizes qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru to document the dire physical, mental, and social health consequences of forced pregnancy on girls living in these countries.

Stolen Lives Report

The report was produced by Planned Parenthood Global in partnership with the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown University and Ibis Reproductive Health. It is a valuable contribution to a wide range of literature showing that forced pregnancy among girls under 15 is both a public health problem and human rights violation.

Main Takeaways from the ‘Stolen Lives’ Report

The report demonstrates three key points:

  • Forced pregnancy is an urgent public health problem, which can seriously damage the physical, emotional, psychological health of a girls and interfere with her life plans including educational and employment opportunities;

  • Forced pregnancy is an urgent human rights problem, which violates girls’ right to health; education; and information, among others; and

  • Forced pregnancy is OUR problem -- and governments, civil society, communities and international agencies must do much more to protect girls and support their safe and healthy transition from childhood and adolescence to adulthood.

  • Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and safe legal abortion services must be accessible to end forced pregnancy and mitigate its consequences in girls globally.

Take Action

Ready to take action today? Follow @ppglobe on Twitter and share a message to end forced pregnancy using #StolenLives.  

More Information

Press release: Planned Parenthood Global Calls  for End to Forced Pregnancy Among Young Adolescents in Latin America

For press or media inquiries regarding the Stolen Lives report or global campaign, contact Lori Adelman at [email protected].

For more information on the Latin American regional campaign to end forced pregnancy among young adolescents, visit ninasnomadres.org.

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