Fierce abortion debate begins as 11-year-old Bolivian girl raped by family member becomes pregnant

A fierce debate has started between human rights activists and the Catholic church in Bolivia. The topic is the fate of an 11-year-old girl, who became pregnant after being raped by a family member.   

Religious groups seek to force her to complete the pregnancy and give birth while the human rights activists want just the opposite..  

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After being repeatedly raped and suffering other sexual abuse by the father of her stepfather, the girl was impregnated in Yapacaní town in eastern Santa Cruz region, Bolivia.  

As her parents used to work in La Paz, the girl was living with her sisters and 61-year-old step-grandfather, who is now in jail for the crime.  

Bolivia has one of highest levels of inter-familiar sexual violence and abuse in Latin America. Some activists call it a culture of rape.

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After religious groups contacted the victim’s mother and persuaded her to oppose the termination of the pregnancy, the intervention of the Catholic Church is being questioned severely. This move has prompted legal action by the Bolivian human rights ombudsman’s office.  

Ana Paola García, executive director, La Casa de la Mujer, a Bolivian women’s rights NGO, said, “The girl didn’t even know what it meant to be pregnant; she told her cousin that she felt something moving inside her tummy. Her cousin told her mother – the girl’s aunt – who reported it to the police.”  

(With inputs from agencies)