Guadalupe Vasquez”—a rape survivor who became pregnant,
suffered an obstetric emergency, was charged for having an abortion and later
wrongfully imprisoned for homicide— She was
18 years old when she experienced the events that landed her in prison
Carmen
Guadalupe Vásquez Aldana started working as a
domestic worker at very young age. When the events took place, she working
as a housemaid earning $80 per month. She was sleeping in her employer’s’
house, in a bedroom without electricity.
Just after she started to work there, she was raped, and as a result, she became pregnant. Her womb hadn't grown and not even her employer noticed that she was pregnant.
Months later, she went into labor in the early morning in her small room. Frightened as she didn't expect the birth and afraid of losing her job due to the childbirth, besides, she never requested for any medical attentions, the baby died or it was born a stillbirth. Due to lack of medical treatment she suffered a heavy hemorrhage.
Her employer found her bleeding the next morning,
he thought was a menstrual blood and yet Guadalupe adamantly carried
on with household chores while still bleeding. By noon, as the
bleeding hadn't stopped, her employer took her to
San Bortolo Hospital, where she remained unattended until 8:20
in the evening. The doctor said she had a heavy hemorrhage and the staff of the
hospital turned her in to the police for a crime of abortion and she was
detained.
The
story took an unexpected turn on January 12, when the Commission of
Justice and Human Rights in El Salvador's Legislative Assembly unanimously
ruled to pardon Carmen Guadalupe and was freed
When
she left the prison, one of her first words was “ I thank God” and she
also added,” “When I was in the prison, I met other women like me who were
being treated unjustly. I want to send them a message of hope and strength. I
want them to know that the world is paying attention to their cases.”
In
a Contrast of fate and almost similar to Guadalupe’s rape was the case of the
10 year old from Paraguay.
The child is five-months pregnant, allegedly
raped by her stepfather Gilberto Benítez Zárate, who was finally
detained by police after several weeks on the run. He is currently behind bars at
the Tacumbú prison in Asuncion, for rape and other charges.
Authorities
have denied the girl an abortion despite her mother's requests, and some
medical experts feared that her pregnancy at such a young age could endanger
her life. The girl's mother –who reportedly raised the
alarm last year that the stepfather was
abusing her daughter, but police did nothing —
She
is ten years old, weighs 36 kilograms (79 pounds) and she hardly rises up to
1.40 meters (4 feet 7 inches) and she is pregnant after her
stepfather allegedly raped her. Paraguayan authorities, however, have rejected
outright for the minor to have an abortion.
On April 21, the girl arrived to the Trinity Child's Hospital of Asunción with her mother. The girl was complaining about a stomachache.
But when the doctors evaluated her, they found out the girl was 21-weeks pregnant.
And
the Uruguay’s 11 year old girl who was also raped by her grandfather and now she has
shocked the world by refusing abortion due to fears.
The 11-year-old girl was admitted to the
hospital. She is three months pregnant. The father is a relative, who, she
says, raped her. Abortions are legal in Uruguay, but the young girl is afraid
and has refused to have one.
Family members, doctors, social organizations,
and the media have encouraged the girl to terminate the pregnancy. They have
even pressured the government to try and forced her to go through with it.
Local media released the 11-year-old’s medical
reports submitted by the Hospital Pereira Rossell. The assessment of a
specialized team from the Institute of Child and Adolescent of Uruguay
(INAU), stated that “she doesn’t have the ability to understand the
consequences of a pregnancy, motherhood, and the relationship with a man three
times her age. The girl also carries a gene for slight retardation,” the report
added.
“There is no risk for the life of the child or
baby, so we cannot force her to have an abortion,” the director of INAU, Monica
Silva, said..
For all parents out there, a stitch in time saves Nine, please don't ever allow this to happen to your children or your child. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Use every methods you know that best worked for you to protect the general security of your loving children. They are still young, they don't know how wicked and dangerous the world is ..so please don't damage your kids before you sent them out into the world.
Thank you.
Miyra.
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