Johannesburg - As the country observes the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Tears Foundation says the campaign has not shown any significant impact in reducing the scourge of teenage pregnancies in South Africa, mainly due to statutory rape.
CEO and founder of the Tears Foundation, Mara Glennie said after the campaign, young girls do not get a chance to learn about pregnancy as a result of rape.
“16 Days of Activism comes around every year, and we could ask, is this awareness-raising campaign really useful, and what impacts does it have in our communities? Once the 16 days are over, we all forget about the problem until this time next year when the next campaign begins, leaving thousands of girls as young as primary school age without the opportunity to learn how to read or write due to pregnancy from rape.”
She said Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga recently declared adolescent pregnancy in South Africa a national crisis when she revealed that an alarming 90 037 girls aged 10 to 19 gave birth in the period March 2021 to April 2022, across all provinces.
She added that during the same period, a further 11 287 girls in the same age bracket, fell pregnant.
The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated already-existing societal challenges, with limited access to clinics and abortion services, as well as long-standing and ongoing shortages of birth control medication at state healthcare facilities, cited as possible causes of the outbreak.
While all learners should have access to male and female condoms and information on their use, efforts are severely hampered by a shortage of government-supplied condoms in communities and at schools.
“While the spread of HIV/Aids and teenage pregnancy have always been causes for concern in South Africa, the past few years have seen a rapid and alarming increase in teenage pregnancy statistics. Apart from not being able to financially support their infants, baby mortality rates are also typically higher, due to both insufficient medical assistance and the increased risks associated with these younger women bearing children,” says Glennie.
“When teenage girls become pregnant, it is overwhelmingly the result of sexual abuse by an adult, including schoolteachers. Poverty puts girls at a greater risk, as it forces them into transactional relationships with older men who become their sugar daddies, and unfortunately, many babies born from unintended pregnancies are abandoned.”
The Star