Teenage pregnancy high in Indigenous villages – UNICEF report

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has uprooted a number of findings in their studies that were conducted on the women and children of Guyana’s hinterland areas. However, one of the main alarms was the increase in the number of cases in teenage pregnancy among many young girls from these remote communities.
According to the final report, it was estimated that one in every four births occurred to a mother who is younger than 16 years old. When looked at from a wider scale, the collected data shows that 21 per cent of adolescent girls from Indigenous communities have already begun child bearing, a number which is six per cent higher than the national average.
Additionally, in the Moruca sub-district, out of the 350 births that were recorded in 2016, approximately 90 were born to adolescent mothers.
In their conclusion to address this matter, UNICEF has deduced that the most liable cause for the high birth rates among young girls is due to the absence of women empowerment in these areas. It is very difficult for women in those areas to access contraceptives since they do not have the authority to make those decisions. Additionally, the high levels of violence in the home are not reported, since it is seen as a normal occurrence that has been happening for generations.
The report states, “They have smaller salaries than their husbands, few are in leadership positions and they are constantly suffering at home and in society, among other challenges that they face. In sum, they are seen by many as second class citizens, stuck to old perceptions about their roles in the community.”
It was also indicated that few women are active participants in the decision-making process in the villages. Out of the 250 Indigenous villages scanned in 2017, only 11 had a female Toshao. UNICEF has noted that there is the need for self-empowerment discussions among all women of these communities.
Meanwhile, incest in the household is an act that has been prevalent for some time now and it spans between not only father-daughter abuses, but also among siblings. It was indicated that these cases are never reported. In fact, the Police within the communities have heard words on the street about the frequency of incest in communities but it would seem as though that is habitual among relatives.
Final deductions conclude that the Indigenous people of Guyana “live in deep vulnerability, with historical changes that are rooted in the social, economic, administrative and political structures of the country”.