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Two cases of incestuous pregnancy in an underage girl were reported last week alone in Costa Rica.
In the few days since the Costa Rica Professional Sociologists Association (CPSCR) published the following statement (which has been lightly edited and condensed) on Friday, February 24, local media (Repretel) reported on a new case of pregnancy in an underage girl in Costa Rica who reports having been raped by her biological father for the past ten years.
“The problem of sexual abuse of minors, both of children and young girls, has been occuring for years, and efforts to eliminate the problem have been through laws aimed at punishing abusers. Sociologically we know that problems are not solved only by enacting laws; it takes concrete actions aimed at eliminating the psycho-social-cultural roots underlying the patriarchal vision that considers women and children as property and objects to be handled with as one pleases …
For several years, various national and international institutions and organizations have denounced this social problem, and the weakness of the response mechanisms, and institutions’ inability to address the consequences of the affected girls and families…
In 2014, 509 births were registered by girls under the age of 14, of which 30 percent did not state who the father was. This shows that this is a social phenomenon of great impact and not an isolated matter, which is why it needs to be dealt with responsibly by the government and the Costa Rican society as a whole…
The social and economic, as well as the human rights consequences of abuse in girls who are victims require that justice be administered with a sociological and integral vision that considers the rights of girls and that is based on current legislation and international treaties approved by the country, and includes taking immediate preventive and corrective measures against aggressors…
We call on the various authorities and agencies to assume responsibly for the regulations established to defend the rights of children, and take immediate steps to stop the escalation of this social scourge…
Organizations working on the issue (PANI, IEM, PANIAMOR, ACCEDER, UNICEF) together with academics and social researchers should scientifically study this phenomenon, and design social models and programs that can effectively prevent and address this situation…
We call on citizens to seek and promote relationships based on respect, solidarity, the development of habits of self-care, mutual support and coexistence in solidarity with the reality of the country. As well as denounce any form of abuse and violence that damages our rights both in the family context and our communities…
We urge the media to promote and facilitate inter-institutional relations for prompt governmental and institutional actions that benefit the protection of children and adolescents in these cases, and to overcome the tendency to emphasize the consequences experienced by victims and their personal decisions, instead to focus on the problem of abuse and the need for it to end…
We call on the judicial authorities to firmly and with all the weight of the law address the situation of aggression against our children and adolescents. Judges and administrators of justice need to be trained to understand the sociological and psychological impacts of pregnancy on girls’ and adolescents’ social and mental health.”
