‘Rape’ victim, 11, gives birth to baby girl after being denied an abortion

A girl of 11 who was allegedly repeatedly raped by her stepfather has given birth to a baby girl after she was denied an abortion. Her baby was delivered by caesarean section and was doing well. “A baby girl, weighing 3.5kg (7lb 11oz), was born without any complications or anomalies,” Dr Mario Villalba, director of the Red Cross hospital in the Paraguay capital Asuncion, told local radio. “The post-operative recovery is going very well.” The case has roused anger in the staunchly Catholic country where abortion is illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk. Erika Guevara, Amnesty’s director for the Americas, said: “Only time will tell the true extent of the physical and psychological consequences of her tragic ordeal.”

It is terrifying that her story will remain all too common unless Paraguay does more to protect victims of sexual violence.

Amnesty director Erika Guevara

When the case came to light in May, the unnamed girl was 10 years old and 22 weeks pregnant. Humanitarian groups argued the girl’s body was not able to support her pregnancy and her life was in danger. But the government, courts, the Catholic Church and other groups insisted the pregnancy should not be terminated, partly due to its advanced stage. The girl’s 42-year-old stepfather, Gilberto Benitez Zarate, was arrested in May and is awaiting trial on rape charges. He claimed he was been set up by his girlfriend, the girl’s mother, who has been charged with negligence.

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