End to childhood

“An abrupt end to childhood” is how the United Nations Population Fund describes adolescent pregnancy, which is the focus of its just-launched “State of the World’s Population” Report.

Indeed, when a girl, who is still a child (below the age of 18), gets pregnant and gives birth, she abandons the world of a child, even if, physically, psychologically, socially she is unprepared for the adult responsibilities and burdens that motherhood brings.

If the father of her baby is likewise a teenager, then the coming of the baby brings an end to two childhoods. The young parents face stigma and financial hardship, often forced to stop their formal education, and jeopardizing their chances of finding gainful employment or developing skills.

More commonly, though, blame falls on the girl. Her pregnancy is proof that she has had sex, and society (especially her parents) is quick to blame her for “promiscuity,” or for her carelessness. The solution many authorities hit on is to change the behavior of girls, either by severely controlling a girl’s social contacts or free time, or requiring teenagers to take virginity pledges.

But, as Dr. Michael Tan, dean of the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (and also an Inquirer columnist), points out, in too many instances a girl’s pregnancy may be the result of rape (too often incestuous) or violence, or the consequence of a forced marriage. “Sometimes, people express the opinion that if a girl is married and gets pregnant, then that’s all right,” he said at the Report’s launch on Wednesday. But what many people may not realize are the many adverse effects of early pregnancy on a girl’s health, her future, and her ability to look after her child—married or not.

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PREGNANCY has major consequences on a girl’s health, says the Report. About 70,000 adolescents in developing countries (which account for 95 percent of adolescent pregnancies in the world) die annually of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. And adolescents who become pregnant “tend to be from lower-income households and to be nutritionally depleted.”

Girls under the age of 15 are particularly vulnerable, the Report points out. “Efforts to prevent pregnancies among girls older than 15, or to support older adolescents who are pregnant or have given birth, may not be suitable or relevant to younger adolescents,” it says. “This particularly vulnerable group needs approaches that strategically address their unique situation.”

Tan asserts that a girl’s human rights can often be violated in the course of her pregnancy and childbirth. She may be a victim of violence or coercion, with little say or power over her aggressor, her seducer, or her older groom. She is forced to stop schooling, often by school authorities who see her as a “bad” example. Cultural norms may also prevent her from pursuing her life plans, such as “shaming” that forces her to stop going to school.

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ONE of the most effective means of preventing or reducing adolescent pregnancies, the Report notes, is keeping girls in school. “Education prepares girls for future jobs and livelihoods, raises their self-esteem and their status, and gives them more say in decisions affecting their lives.” Education, says the Report, “reduces the likelihood of child marriage and delays childbearing, eventually leading to healthier birth outcomes.”

Education, says Tan, “is the best contraceptive.”

It is difficult to address the issue of adolescent pregnancy without addressing the underlying causes, says the Report. These include “gender inequality, poverty, sexual violence and coercion, child marriage, social pressures, and negative attitudes and stereotypes about adolescent girls.”

Tan likewise points out the need to involve men (especially fathers) and boys in the strategies to prevent even more girls from getting pregnant before they’re ready for it. He points out in particular the need to address the culture of machismo, which in the streets tends to glorify fatherhood, and more so, escaping responsibility for it.

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BOHOL, by the cold-blooded calculations of news values, may have fallen off the headlines, but for the residents of the towns devastated by the recent earthquake, the situation is still an emergency, and help in any form is still welcome.

For the SVD Fathers in Bohol, who work in parishes and manage an educational institution, Holy Name University in Tagbilaran, and run a hospital, the earthquake has likewise wrought considerable damage and hardships. The hospital, for one, sustained cracks that necessitated the evacuation of their patients.

“The humble province of Bohol has taken strides in its economic development by way of tourism,” relates Fr. Eugene Docoy, SVD, who is coordinating the aid effort. “Only a decade ago, it was one of the poorest provinces in the country. Since then, it has grown many notches upward by the sheer determination of the people to lift themselves out of poverty. But now, it is when they have gained little successes that their resilience and faith are being tried again. For sure, the people are not about to readily give up hope but they may need a little help to stand up again above the rubble of destruction.”

Docoy said the SVD Southern Province, through its social action arm, the JPIC, in collaboration with the University of San Carlos (an SVD institution in Cebu), has organized a relief operation for Bohol, with the most urgent needs being food, water and medicine.

Readers who wish to help Bohol and course their donations through the SVD community, may send their peso donations to: SVD Southern Province Inc., BPI Cebu Mango Branch,

Account Number 1025-6401-32.