Research Highlights the Adverse Situation Facing Girls and Adolescents in Latin America

Research Highlights the Adverse Situation Facing Girls and Adolescents in Latin America
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 12/04/13

Barriers such as teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, sexual violence and a lack of education are limiting the development of girls and adolescents in Latin America. This is especially true in relation to their right to complete secondary studies in a timely and suitable manner, as a critical aspect of their personal development.

“Because I am a Girl: the situation of girls and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean,” an investigation presented by Plan International, an organization with more than 75 years of experience promoting and defending the rights of children.

This is the conclusion reached in “Because I am a Girl: the situation of girls and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean,” an investigation presented by Plan International, an organization with more than 75 years of experience promoting and defending the rights of children.

The research was conducted over a one-year period, helping to expand understandingabout the living conditions of girls, adolescents and young people in Latin America and the Caribbean, and identify the main factors that limit their development and keep them from achieving their maximum potential.

The study places special emphasis on the situation of girls living in rural and marginal urban zones, and girls from minority ethnic groups (indigenous and Afro-descendants).

“Because I am a Girl: the situation of girls…” stresses that both gender and age produce a double discrimination that marginalizes girls and excludes them from access to many opportunities, services and benefits, especially the right to a quality education.  If other marginalizing conditions are added to this, such as ethnic origin or a disability, the situation becomes even more difficult.

According to the investigation, the three main barriers faced by girls and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in relation to obtaining a quality education, are high rates of teenage pregnancy, violence (domestic, sexual, and in schools), and the lack of a gender focus in educational curricula.

In the school environment, the fact that gender equality conceptionsare not included in educational programs is a concern.  Curricula rarely address issues related to gender, and didactic materials frequently confirm and perpetuate—either consciously or unconsciously—stereotypes about women and men in society.

This research, however, does not only analyze barriers, but has also identified the under-utilized skills and potential of girls, adolescents and young people.  When asked about their future projects and aspirations, young people expressed great dreams and spirit.  Promoting these capacities and the empowerment of these young people will help to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

The research is part of Plan’s global campaign, “Because I am a Girl,” whose objective is promoting an increase in the number of girls that receive quality education in the countries where the most vulnerable and excluded populations live.  The campaign is also aimed at eliminating barriers that keep girls from receiving this education.  Plan believes that the girls who receive a good education, and whose families and communities support their autonomous development, will have the power to transform their own lives and the lives of those around them.

In the Dominican Republic

Equal opportunities for males and females in secondary education does not seem to pose a challenge, since more females are enrolled at this level than males (53% vs. 38%, PREALEDUCA 2010).  However, this access does not translate into the enjoyment of other rights that should result from education and the skills it provides, such as access to jobs, social and political participation, and the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights.  For instance, women between 15 and 24 years of age invest more years in school than men of the same age range (10.1 years vs. 9.4 years), yet young men have more access to jobs than young women (23.5% vs. 7.4%) (PREALEDUCA, PLAN 2010).

Adolescent pregnancy is one of the main barriers; 21% of Dominican females between the ages of 15 and 19 years have been pregnant at least once, and this rate is as high as 30-37% in some of the country’s southeastern provinces.  It is worth noting that adolescents living in rural zones are more likely to be mothers (1.45 times more likely) than those living in urban zones, and teenage mothers are more likely to have lower educational levels than their peers who are not mothers (ENDESA 2007).

UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report for 2011 revealed that 19% of adolescent females in the Dominican Republic (15-19 years of age) are married (in a union).

UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report for 2011 revealed that 19% of adolescent females in the Dominican Republic (15-19 years of age) are married (in a union).  Other studies report that within households, young adolescent females are pressured to have children from around the time they are 14 years of age.  Mothers, aunts and friends are the most insistent, and view women older than 30 years of age as “very old” for having children (PLAN 2011).

Gender violence is another factor that impedes the social participation of girls and adolescents.  Some 42% of Dominican females between 15-19 years of age who have been married or in a union, indicate that they have been controlled by their spouse or partner in relation to their time, their freedom of movement, and have had their social networks restricted in some way.  This isolates them socially, significantly limiting their ability to exercise social leadership outside of the domestic realm, and participate in decision-making processes that directly affect their interests and those of their families.

A study ofthe Dominican Republic’s public prosecutor’s offices and the incidence of abuse of children and adolescents revealed that during a six month period, 92% of the victims of sexual abuse were girls and adolescent females, while 8% of such victims were boys and adolescent males.A large percentage of victims (41%) were in the fifth through eighth grades.

About Plan

Plan is a non-profit organization that works in more than 70 countries around the globe. The focus of its work is child-centered community development, working with girls, boys, their families and communities.  In 2012, its work reached 174.2 million children in 90,000 communities.  In Latin America, Plan works in 12 countries.  It is an independent organization without any religious, political or governmental affiliations.

Some interesting facts:

· One additional year of secondary education increases the potential earnings of a girl by 15-25%.
· 75 million girls around the world are not in school.
· One out of three girls in the world are denied a secondary education.
· The development opportunities of just over 104 million girls in Latin America and the Caribbean are limited because they are young and because they are female.  Despite advances made in recent decades in access to different levels of education, schools continue reproducing gender stereotypes through educational practices and curricular content, limiting the future options of girls.
· 150 million and 73 million girls younger than 18 years of age worldwide have been raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence.
· The main cause of death among young women (15-19 years of age) in developing countries is pregnancy.
· Quality education = social change. In other words, girls leave school not only equipped with the ability to read and write, but also with life skills that help bring equality into households, to the work place, and to public decision-making processes, from parliaments to city councils or school management committees. This also means obtaining a dignified job, under the same conditions as a man—something that does not generally occur in Latin America.
· Educated men are less likely to be violent with their female partners, and educated women are much less likely to put up with violence, or believe that it is part of the natural order.