STORY-TRÅD·ekonomi

Study: Pregnancy reduces girls’ opportunities and autonomy in Brazil

Pregnancy during childhood or adolescence interrupted the education of six out of ten (61%) young women interviewed in a study entitled Marcas do Tempo: Gravidez na Infância ou Adolescência e seus Impactos na Vida de Mulheres no Brasil (“Traces of Time: Pregnancy in Childhood or Adolescence and Its Impacts on the Lives of Women in Brazil”), conducted by the NGO Plan Brasil. The study surveyed over 1,500 women aged 19 to 29 from all regions of Brazil and compared two groups – those who became pregnant during childhood or adolescence and those who did not. In the case of interrupted education, the percentage drops to 33 percent among the second group. Notícias relacionadas:Study shows persistence of violence against children in Brazil.Over half of Brazilian undergraduates drop out to care for children.Pregnancy during childhood or adolescence is a turning point that exacerbates inequalities that already existed even before the pregnancy, Plan Brasil CEO Cynthia Betti noted. “The data show that these girls face barriers that compound one another, be it in education, health, the labor market, or the exercise of their most basic rights,” she said. Eight out of ten respondents (83%) also reported having left a job or missed a career opportunity because they needed to care for their children. According to the survey results, even when starting from similar backgrounds, young women who became pregnant during childhood or adolescence face greater disadvantages throughout their lives. In the study, 73 percent reported having been discriminated against because of their pregnancy, whether within their family, at school, or in health care settings. This prejudice appears repeatedly in the responses, with descriptions of judgmental attitudes regarding these young women’s intellectual, moral, and professional capabilities. Teenage marriage The study also shows that 59 percent of young women who became pregnant before age 19 went on to marry or enter a domestic partnership shortly after their first pregnancy. The study further identifies a 19-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of marriage before age 16 among these young women. The data also show that, among young women who became pregnant before age 14, half (50%) did not have access to legal abortion services, even though Brazilian law classifies pregnancy in this age group as statutory rape. In Betti’s view, these young women did not just lose a job or a year of schooling; they lost the chance to choose their own paths at the very moment they most needed that autonomy. “Reversing this situation requires the implementation, monitoring, and funding of integrated public policies focused on prevention – not isolated responses. Listening to these stories is what allows us to transform statistics into a public commitment,” she argued. Recommendations The study lists recommendations ranging from ensuring rights-based sex education and unhindered access to contraceptive methods to access to daycare centers with hours compatible with study and work schedules. The study also highlights the importance of combating obstetric violence and contraceptive coercion, as well as first-job policies aimed at young mothers.