Children deserve a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment that provides them with the resources and opportunities they need to grow and develop to their full potential. One of the most important things is for children to be protected from harm, abuse, and exploitation. But unfortunately, not all children have these opportunities.
An 11-year-old girl discovered that she was pregnant with her ra-ist’s child after she was taken to a first-aid center in her hometown.
The girl had become pregnant after her grandmother’s 65-year-old partner ra-ed her.
23 weeks into her pregnancy, the girl, who was called ‘Lucia’ to keep her real identity hidden, went through a medical procedure similar to a c-section so that her child could be delivered. And this came after repeated requests for an ab0гtion for the child were denied by authorities.
The case was described as the “worst kind of cгuelty for this child.”
In the events that led to the birth of her ra-ist’s child, Lucia went through two suicide attempts and admitted to a psychologist, “I want you to remove what the old man put inside me.”
It was revealed that the father of Lucia’s child was her grandmother’s 65-year-old partner. Lucia is the youngest of three sisters and was sent to live with her grandmother in 2015 after her mother’s partner reportedly abused her two older sisters.
Even though ab0гtion is legal in Aгgentina in cases of ra-e or when a mother’s life is in danger, her case was delayed over uncertainty about her legal guardian.
Her mother agreed with her daughter’s request, but because she had been placed in her grandmother’s care her mother’s consent was deemed insufficient.
However, her grandmother had been stripped of her guardianship for living with the ra-ist, so she could not give consent either.
Her case faced a further hurdle as several doctors refused to carry out the procedure because of personal beliefs.
She underwent the ц-section after health authorities instructed the hospital director to follow a family judge’s decision to carry out the “necessary procedures to attempt to save both lives”.
Although several requests for an ab0гtion were raised by the child’s mother and by activists, health secretary, Gustavo, insisted Lucia wanted to give birth to the child. In a radio interview, Gustavo claimed, “I am close to both the child and her mother. The child wants to continue her pregnancy. We are considering the risks, but she has a large contexture, she weighs more than 110 pounds.”
One of the doctors who performed the surgery on Lucia to deliver the baby at 23 weeks said, “We saved the life of an 11-year-old girl who was tortured for a month by the provincial health system… My legs trembled when I saw her; it was like seeing my younger daughter. The little girl didn’t understand completely what was going to happen.”
But the baby she gave birth to didn’t survive. The infant died on March 8. We are republishing this story amid recent reports that child se-ual abuse has increased in the United States during the pandemic.