Five Panama girls under 14 became mothers for the second time

In 2020 some 392 girls under the age of 14 conceived their first child and the in the last 16 years, some 305 had a second child before turning 15 years old, five of them in 2020, according to figures from the comptroller’s office.

The cases hide abuse and dysfunctional family dynamics seen by them as something normal says a La Estrella investigation.

 The Sex Education Law is still pending but the reality that Panama is experiencing is reflected in the data published, through the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). The figures correspond to the administrative records of public health facilities (Ministry of Health and Social Security Fund), private clinics and offices of the Civil Registry (Electoral Court).

The most recent case is that of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and is in her 25th week of pregnancy. The abuser is in custody and has already been charged with rape since December.

The general fertility rate revealed that in the country there were 64.1 live births per thousand women of childbearing age when comparing the data with the previous year, a decrease of 4.5% was observed; On the other hand, the global fertility rate establishes a ratio of 2.1 children per woman, an indicator that decreased 4.4% by 2020.

In relation to the age of the mother, 15.9% of live births correspond to mothers under 20 years of age. , and for the districts of Panama and San Miguelito, 2.8% and 0.8%, respectively.