UN Experts Charge Paraguay Of Failing To Protect Pregnant 10-Year-Old Rape Victim After Health Minister Denies Abortion

Four experts from the United Nations have accused the Paraguayan government of not protecting a pregnant 10-year-old girl who was raped by her stepfather, Gilberto Benitez Zarate. The child is five months pregnant and was refused an abortion by the country’s health minister.

“The Paraguayan authorities’ decision results in grave violations of the right to life, to health, and to the physical and mental integrity of the girl as well as her right to education, jeopardizing her economic and social opportunities,” the experts said in a statement from Geneva, quotes the New York Daily News.

Paraguay bans abortion, even for pregnancies due to rape. The only exception is if the mother’s life is under threat because of the pregnancy.

The young girl’s plight has triggered a debate in the South American nation and even overseas. The World Health Organisation warned that the child’s pregnancy could lead to complications and possibly cost her life. Amnesty International asked Paraguay to permit the girl to have an abortion.

However, Health Minister Antonio Barrios insisted the girl, who is staying at a Red Cross hospital, is in good health. He added that her pregnancy is too advanced for an abortion.

While experts concede she is not ready to become a mother before she even becomes a teen, nor is she ready mentally and physically to give birth, the public defender for children in Luque, Jose Orue, said that Paraguay’s justice system will appoint a guardian and tutors for the young mother and her baby.

On Monday, Barrios created a medical panel to assess the physical and mental health of the girl. While medical care would help the child give birth, Francia La Carrubba, a forensic psychologist, warned the rape’s aftermath would remain with the victim when she grows older as a teenager and later as an adult.

WebMD lists that the risk of teenage pregnancy includes inadequate prenatal care, pregnancy-induced hypertension, excess protein in the urine, swelling of hands and face and organ damage. There is also the danger of premature delivery and low birth weight of the infant.

Meanwhile, Zarate was arrested in Luque over the weekend. He was placed in an isolation cell to prevent other prisoners from attacking him. The girl’s mother is detained at a female correctional facility due to her neglect to take care of her young daughter.

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