{"id":6601,"date":"2020-05-10T21:34:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T05:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/?p=6601&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2020-06-18T11:17:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T19:17:09","slug":"forced-motherhood-synonymous-with-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/forced-motherhood-synonymous-with-rape\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Forced Motherhood: Synonymous with Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By: Karen Legrand<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIf you don\u2019t become a mother, you\u2019ll never fully be a woman.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cYou\u2019ll end up alone if you don\u2019t have children.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThey did her a favor by getting her pregnant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In a country as conservative and machista as Guatemala, deciding to be a mother instead of just becoming one without questioning it is seen as unnatural. This is evidenced by the pressure exerted by social structures based on cultural, religious, and social beliefs that link motherhood with the duty of women. Comments such as \u201cYou\u2019ll end up alone if you don\u2019t have children,\u201d \u201cIf you don\u2019t become a mother, you\u2019ll never fully be a woman,\u201d \u201cThey did her a favor (when a man gets a woman pregnant),\u201d or \u201cWho will take care of you when you\u2019re older?\u201d show how the concept of motherhood is seen as a contract in which women are not themselves capable of having value, which is conceived under the imaginary of the role of \u201cservice and submission\u201d of women.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forced motherhood in Guatemala<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The regional #Ni\u00f1asnomadres (girls not mothers) campaign analyzes forced motherhood as the result of rape, forced sexual acts, and restricted sexual and reproductive health services, such as legal abortion and a lack of policies that comprehensively deal with the violation of rights and the future of young and teenage girls.<\/p>\n<p>Guatemala is one of the countries in the region with alarming rates of childhood and teenage pregnancy. According to data from the Observatory of Sexual and Reproductive Health, OSAR, in the year 2019, there were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>114,858 pregnancies in girls between the ages of 10 and 19<\/li>\n<li>315 young and teenage girls who got pregnant each day<\/li>\n<li>5,061 between the ages of 10 and 14<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These facts represent the reality of young and teenage Guatemalan girls who live in highly vulnerable situations and are exposed to rape, human trafficking, forced sexual relations, misinformation about their sexual and reproductive rights, and a lack of policies and programs that guarantee comprehensive sexual education.<\/p>\n<p>Forced pregnancy has multidimensional effects on the lives of women. Physically it can put women at risk of death before, during or after birth, and also at risk of abuse by healthcare and pre-natal care providers. Socially and communally, familiar and academic exclusion, where women are kicked out of their houses and schools, as well as exposure to physical, emotional, and psychological violence are all frequently seen. Often, women are forced to abandon their life goals and suffer emotional issues like anxiety or postpartum depression, to name a few examples.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Knowing our sexual and reproductive rights<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sexuality is an integration of physical, emotional, social and spiritual aspects, which is to say that it is tied to our whole being, our body, thoughts, emotions, situation, beliefs, desires, etc. Below we have a list of the principal sexual and reproductive rights based on the Guatemalan legal framework and treaties and international agreements signed by the State of Guatemala.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u00a0The right to live and make decisions freely, autonomously, and from an informed position about my body and sexuality.<\/li>\n<li>The right to fully exercise and enjoy by sexuality.<\/li>\n<li>The right to publicly manifest my feelings for others.<\/li>\n<li>The right to freely decide with whom to have romantic, erotic, and social relationships.<\/li>\n<li>The right to an intimate and private life and the confidentiality of my personal information.<\/li>\n<li>The right to live, physical, psychological, and sexual wellbeing, living free from violence.<\/li>\n<li>The right to live free of discrimination.<\/li>\n<li>The right to equal conditions and opportunity.<\/li>\n<li>The right to make decisions about my reproductive life in a free and informed manner.<\/li>\n<li>The right to sexual and reproductive health services, including access to contraception.<\/li>\n<li>The right to current, valid, complete, scientific, and secular information about sexuality.<\/li>\n<li>The right to comprehensive sexual education.<\/li>\n<li>The right to participate in public policy on sexuality.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Are you interested in furthering each of your rights? Here we have a list of virtual resources you can consult:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Primer on the sexual rights of youth \u2013INCIDEJOVEN- <a href=\"http:\/\/incidejoven.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Cartilla-de-Derechos-Sexuales-y-Reproductivos.pdf\">http:\/\/incidejoven.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Cartilla-de-Derechos-Sexuales-y-Reproductivos.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Facebook: Alliance of Health Professionals Guatemala (Alianza de Profesionales por la Salud Guatemala)<\/li>\n<li>APROFAM <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aprofam.org.gt\/educacion-sexual\/\">https:\/\/www.aprofam.org.gt\/educacion-sexual\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Motherhood will either be desired or not<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Deciding to become a mother, or not, how many children you want to have, to use contraceptives or not (and what type), and to denounce rape are actions liked with the exercise of our sexual and reproductive rights. As women, we have the right to freely make decisions about our bodies and our sexuality. We are the protagonists of our life stories.<\/p>\n<p><em>Karen Legrand is a community psychologist and a contributor to Revista EntreMundos<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Karen Legrand \u201cIf you don\u2019t become a mother, you\u2019ll never fully be a woman.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019ll end up alone if you don\u2019t have children.\u201d \u201cThey did her a favor by getting her pregnant.\u201d In a country as conservative and machista as Guatemala, deciding to be a mother instead of just becoming one without questioning it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[429,455,422],"tags":[2030,2031,2029],"class_list":["post-6601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-pagetwo-en","category-women","tag-forced-motherhood","tag-mother-girls-in-guatemala","tag-sexual-and-reproductive-rights"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/maternidad.jpg?fit=738%2C530&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ljt7-1It","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5932,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/micromachismos-another-type-of-violence-against-women\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":0},"title":"MicroMachismos: Another Type of Violence against Women","author":"EntreMundos","date":"11 noviembre, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Karen Legrand Guatemala is ranked as one of the most unsafe countries in the world for girls and women. According to the National Institute for Forensic Sciences (Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses, INACIF), in 2018 there were 628 reports of crimerelated deaths of women, meaning that two women were\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/micromachismos.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/micromachismos.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/micromachismos.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/micromachismos.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/micromachismos.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12234,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/sexual-and-reproductive-rights-an-unsettled-issue-in-guatemala\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":1},"title":"Sexual and Reproductive Rights; An Unsettled Issue in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"15 julio, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"BY EMMA G\u00d3MEZ\/ TRANSLATION BY JONATHAN LOTT According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), sexual and reproductive rights are related to the freedom of people to decide about their sexuality and the free exercise of it. Some of these rights include: exercising one\u2019s sexuality, independent of\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/444487166_750607893953803_8829963883492089519_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1158&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/444487166_750607893953803_8829963883492089519_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1158&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/444487166_750607893953803_8829963883492089519_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1158&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/444487166_750607893953803_8829963883492089519_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1158&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/444487166_750607893953803_8829963883492089519_n.jpg?fit=1200%2C1158&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":155,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/mujer\/invisible-women\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":2},"title":"Invisible Women","author":"EntreMundos","date":"5 marzo, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"By Patricia Mac\u00edas Lopez \u00a0 In Guatemala, 660 women were killed just last year, 112 more than in 2012, a frightening reality that is lived with on a daily basis. But violence against women is not only concentrated in numbers like these; rather, it occurs in many different ways and\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abMujer\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Mujer","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/mujer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/mujeres-2.png?fit=1000%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/mujeres-2.png?fit=1000%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/mujeres-2.png?fit=1000%2C825&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/mujeres-2.png?fit=1000%2C825&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10759,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/women\/womens-well-being-as-a-human-right\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":3},"title":"Women\u2019s Well-Being as a Human Right","author":"EntreMundos","date":"17 mayo, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Thelma Such\u00ed\u00a0 The International Day of Action for Women\u2019s Health is celebrated every May 28th. This day of recognition was created as a response to the grave health problems suffered by millions of women in various countries, due to poverty, violence, wars, discrimination, social exclusion, and the lack of investment\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/whatsapp-image-2023-04-27-at-1.53.07-pm-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/whatsapp-image-2023-04-27-at-1.53.07-pm-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/whatsapp-image-2023-04-27-at-1.53.07-pm-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/whatsapp-image-2023-04-27-at-1.53.07-pm-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/whatsapp-image-2023-04-27-at-1.53.07-pm-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6114,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/politics\/aldo-davila-a-congressmember-for-human-rights\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":4},"title":"Aldo D\u00e1vila: A Congressmember for Human Rights","author":"Majo Recinos","date":"14 enero, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Jason Klarl and Karen Legrand Below, we present an interview with Aldo D\u00e1vila, elected member to Guatemalan Congress for the period 2020-2024. In this interview, we had the opportunity not only to learn a little about Aldo's life, but also about his proposals and challenges as a person, activist and\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abFrontPage\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"FrontPage","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/frontpage-en\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61662137_352101998781504_4418702726817382400_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61662137_352101998781504_4418702726817382400_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61662137_352101998781504_4418702726817382400_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61662137_352101998781504_4418702726817382400_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/61662137_352101998781504_4418702726817382400_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C796&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12756,"url":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/uncategorized\/obligadas-a-renunciar-a-sus-suenos-violencia-sexual-contra-ninas-en-guatemala\/?lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":6601,"position":5},"title":"Forced to Give Up on Their Dreams: Sexual Violence against Girls in Guatemala","author":"EntreMundos","date":"24 marzo, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"BY HUMAN RIGHTS WATC \/ TRANSLATED BY THOMAS LANG Over the years, the government of Guatemala has not met its obligation to girls who face early and forced pregnancies due to sexual violence. Human Rights Watch made this claim in a report entitled Forced to Give Up on Their Dreams:\u2026","rel":"","context":"En \u00abCommunity Action\u00bb","block_context":{"text":"Community Action","link":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/category\/politics\/community-action-en-2\/?lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/14-17-doris-miranda-para-human-rights-watch-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/14-17-doris-miranda-para-human-rights-watch-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/14-17-doris-miranda-para-human-rights-watch-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/14-17-doris-miranda-para-human-rights-watch-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/14-17-doris-miranda-para-human-rights-watch-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6648,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6601\/revisions\/6648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}