'It destroyed the girl she was': the toll of pregnancy on Paraguay's children
Rampant child abuse and draconian abortion laws mean Paraguay’s child pregnancy rate is among Latin America’s highest
Photograph: Santi Carneri.
With reporting and photography by Santi Carneri. Published in The Guardian, July 13th, 2018.
ASUNCION, PARAGUAY — When she took her 10-year-old daughter to hospital suffering stomach cramps and vomiting, Rosana had little idea of the ordeal ahead. Several clinics had prescribed medicine for stomach parasites. One diagnosed a tumour. But a scan showed that the girl was several months pregnant.
Within days, Rosana’s partner was on the run, later convicted of raping his stepdaughter. Police dragged Rosana away from her daughter’s hospital bed on suspicion of allowing the abuse. Meanwhile, the girl – who became known as Mainumby – became the focus of an international media storm over Paraguay’s high rates of child pregnancy and its draconian abortion laws.