Cape Town - As child rights activists continue to express outrage at the shocking statistics that more than 23 000 Gauteng teenagers had fallen pregnant over the past year, it has emerged that the Western Cape recorded more than 11 000 teenage pregnancies - 325 of these involving girls aged 10 to 14.
Among women aged 15-19, the figure is up from 10 773 to 11 342 and among the 10-14 age band, the figure increased from 314 to 325 pregnancies recorded over the last 12 months.
Provincial officials have linked the increase to gender-based violence, barriers in accessing contraception, which included stock-outs at local clinics because of the pandemic, and a need for more sex education.
The Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) said there were 547 cases of reported learner pregnancies since April 2020 to date across the eight district offices.
Reacting to the figures, Commissioner for Children in the Western Cape, Christina Nomdo said 10-year-old girls falling pregnant was a result of a criminal act.
“Children have the right to be protected from harm, provided with services that enable their well-being and to participate in decisions that affect their lives. As adults, we struggle with this notion of balancing children’s welfare and autonomy rights.
“Under 12 children need greater protection from especially their parents against the risks posed to their safety. When we get information that 10 year old girls are pregnant, this is clearly a result of a criminal act. The perpetrators need to be brought to book. Once children reach 12, they accede to many autonomy rights. In this adolescent life phase, it is important that children have trustworthy adults in their lives who can guide and support them to make important life decisions. They need information about all aspects of life to navigate the world,” she said.
Nomdo warned against using the term ‘teenage pregnancy’, arguing that it had a stigma attached to it, “intended to blame and shame”.
“As adults, we need to move beyond stigmatising and taboos to becoming real resources in the lives of adolescents - so that they are supported when they make mistakes, fulfil their potential and attain their dreams.”
In terms of contraception, there were gaps between adolescent girls wanting to use it and them actually having access which were also amplified during the pandemic, according to South African Medical Research Council, specialist scientist and co-principal investigator of the “HerStory 2” study, Kim Jonas.
“We interviewed 515 young women and girls across the country to unpack the reasons related to unintended pregnancies. We found that many were interested in using contraceptives but there were barriers in accessing and using it.
“Some of the health facilities barriers included the opening hours which are not convenient especially for school going adolescents. Another thing when they are at the clinic they don't get the information details on how it works and they don't get given the contraception of their choice.
“When they were using the injection, they reported stock-outs at many clinics because of Covid-19 they were also unable to access the facility during lockdown.”
Jonas said that other barriers included the stigma in communities which treated contraception for young girls as a “taboo”, resulting in many having to hide their contraception if they were using the pill or hide their clinic card from parents and in some cases their boyfriend.
Side effects were also a deterrent reported by the girls interviewed, Jonas said.
The Children’s Institute at UCT has been calling on the government to put children at the heart of South Africa’s Covid-19 response and recovery plans.
The nstitute’s senior researcher, Lucy Jamieson said while it was early to jump to any conclusions about whether these increase were specifically significant outside normal fluctuations from year to year, young people needed support to access sex and reproductive services.
“Some of those services have been impacted over the last year, they were less available. The reasons for the statistics could be attributed to any cause like difficulty getting to support services in reproductive health like access to contraception or termination, advice and support or if there’s an increase in abuse.
“We do know these services are critical to make sure even in the pandemic there should be access to supportive reproductive health services and psychosocial services. Counselling is needed where young people can talk about relationships rather than only how to prevent pregnancy.”
She said in the majority of trends from previous years, the vast number of teenage pregnancies were in the higher age bands, 18 and 19.
“These conversations are also the responsibility of parents and parents also need support in having them because many find these topics uncomfortable.”
The health department has launched a new internet site for its family planning services to educate sexually active women between the ages 15 and 24 about the need for contraception and contraceptive use.
The site comprises frequently asked questions, benefits about contraceptive use, information on healthcare facilities offering family planning services outside of normal working hours, and the contact details.
Women can access information using their smartphones or other suitable devices by visiting: www.westerncape.gov.za/site-page/family-planning
Cape Times