Puebla: pregnancy caused by sexual abuse of 8-year-old girl reported

On April 13, Francisco Javier Álvarez Carillo, director of the Women's Hospital in Tehuacán, Puebla, told the media that the hospital had treated an 8-year-old girl, who had a pregnancy as a result of sexual abuse.

Local media reported that the case was registered months ago, at the end of 2021. This was used as a context to point out the alarming increase in the number of cases of child pregnancy that the state of Puebla has registered.

At the same time, he explained in his statements that the pregnancy was the product of sexual abuse perpetrated by a man whose whereabouts are unknown, since he managed to flee before being arrested for the crime.

Despite the insistence of the media, Álvarez Carillo did not specify the place of origin of the minor, nor did he provide information on the situation of the girl and her son, or whether the infant's family had lodged a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office of Puebla.

It should be noted that the Women's Hospital in Tehuacán mainly serves people from areas such as La Cañada and the Mixteca of Oaxaca, given the location of the place.

According to the data provided by the doctor, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital went from having a record of 6 cases of women and girls victims of sexual abuse to 7 a month.

At the end of 2021, statistics from the Ministry of Health of Puebla (SSA) revealed that in seven of the 10 most populated municipalities in the state, births in children under 13 years of age increased by up to 70%, compared to the same period in 2020.

From January to July, 1,639 girls and adolescents gave birth in the capital of Puebla, as revealed by the Citizen Observatory of the Institute for Municipal Management, Administration and Liaison. At the same time, she stressed that two 11-year-old girls and two 12-year-old girls became mothers for the first time.

However, the greatest increase in pregnancies occurred in children under 13 and 14 years of age, with increases of up to 70% in the number of cases, from 10 to 17 births in children under 13 years of age.

While births in adolescents aged 14 years increased from 49 to 70 cases, in the first half of the year, which means 42.8%.

It should be clarified that the records correspond to the fact that those who were treated in institutions dependent on the state Ministry of Health, there could be a black figure regarding cases that are not treated in public entities.

The state agency reported that 17 children under the age of 13 gave birth in the first half of 2021; 70, aged 14 and 160, aged 15, mostly students at the secondary level of basic education. Likewise, 307 16-year-olds had a birth; 476, aged 17; and 605, aged 18, also became mothers for the first time, which represents 1,639 cases in total.

Adolescent pregnancy is a phenomenon that has gained importance in recent years because Mexico ranks first in the topic, among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with a fertility rate of 77 births per thousand adolescents aged 15 to 19. Likewise, in Mexico, 23% of adolescents begin their sexual life between the ages of 12 and 19.

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