Man charged with rape of 8-year-old

A man charged with the alleged rape of a minor under 8 years of age who became pregnant, is in provisional detention said the Public Ministry (MP) on Wednesday, February 23, following a TVN Noticias report – of the care that the minor has received from the Santo Tomás Hospital and the Children’s Hospital.

The MP reported that on December 29, 2021, a guarantees hearing was held for the man, for the alleged commission of the crime of aggravated rape.

In the statement, the MP pointed out that it is necessary to guarantee the comprehensive protection of the minor – of the Guna ethnic group – “avoiding the victimization generated by these publicized facts.”

In a statement, the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family (Senniaf) reported that since December 27, 2021, it has provided, through a measure of protection and deprivation of parental care issued by the Second Court for Children and Adolescents, the approach regarding the protection of the victim, “proceeding immediately by the technical staff of the Protection Directorate, to remove her from the family unit where the aggressor was.”

The Directorate of Protection, through its Department against Abuse and Violence, provided psychological assistance to both the girl and her relatives, who are also affected by the aggression committed within their own home by a relative

Safe abortion
The Panamanian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology said: “The ignorance of the population, judicial authorities, health professionals and other related sectors, about the options that exist for the prevention of pregnancies and the legal aspects that would give access to safe abortion, being important the cases in which these pregnancies are the result of acts of sexual violence, is an obstacle in the early care of Panamanian girls, adolescents and women, which must be solved”.