Parliament’s Multi-Party Women’s Caucus (MPWC), has expressed concern over the high teenage pregnancy rate in South Africa.
A recent report showed that girls, as young as 10- years-old are among the 23 226 girls who fell pregnant in Gauteng between April 2020 and March 2021.
According to the report, 934 babies were delivered by girls between the ages of 10 and 14, while over 19 000 were delivered by those between the ages of 15 and 19 years.
The report also noted that nearly 3 000 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 chose to terminate their pregnancies.
Expressing her concern over the staggering numbers, MPWC Chairperson Nkhensani Kate Bilankulu, warned that there is a legal age for sexual consent, and “10 years old is definitely not the age.”
“These numbers were released during Women’s Month, what does it mean about our young women and girl-children? I want to see all the perpetrators, be it educators or anyone else, behind bars. I call on the authorities to clearly state how many cases have been opened that relate to teenage pregnancies,” Bilankulu said on Friday. – SAnews.gov.za
