Veracruz ranks third nationwide in cases of child pregnancy, said the civil association Equifonía, in the context of actions related to International Women’s Day.
Activists Adriana Fuentes, Aracely González and Maribela Valdivia, specified that in 2024, 615 births were recorded in minors between 10 and 14 years old, so there is still a lot of work to be done by the authorities.
Equifonía specified that the municipalities in which these cases were detected are Xalapa with 43; Minatitlán, 40; 30 in Oluta; Veracruz, 29; Orizaba, 18; Córdoba, 15; San Andrés Tuxtla, 14, in addition to Martínez de la Torre, Perote and Cosamaloapan with 11 cases respectively.
“The authorities have the responsibility to safeguard and guarantee the well-being of all girls and women. As a society we have to avoid adding hate speech. Every time the community judges and an authority is negligent in the cases,” the activists indicated.
They pointed out that in that entity irregularities have been registered around the complaints that the same authorities must report to the State Attorney General’s Office, as well as in the registration of pregnancy interruptions that are practiced.
They recalled that the 615 child births constitute a crime due to the age of the minors who undergo them, and for which there are protocols that must be implemented upon arrival at the hospital.
“All these cases come from a crime because they are minors and many times even from their own relatives. We identified that the protocols are not being implemented adequately. In all cases of minors under 15 years of age they must notify the Attorney General’s Office as well as the child protection attorney,” they assured.
Likewise, health authorities incorrectly record cases of pregnancy terminations, marking them as Legal Interruptions of Pregnancy (ILE) and not as Voluntary Interruptions of Pregnancy (IVE).
During 2024, the Ministry of Health of the State of Veracruz indicated that 17 IVEs were performed, which is less than three percent of the pregnancies registered, so they fear that girls are not being informed about their reproductive rights.
“Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) is a right that girls who are victims of sexual violence have and they can request it at any time during pregnancy,” they pointed out.
Source: jornada
