Dear Friends,

It would mean a lot to me if you took a moment to add your name because:

According to a paper titled Teenage births and pregnancies in South Africa, 2017 - 2021 – a reflection of a troubled country: (2) over 12000 children between the ages of 10 - 14 years fell pregnant in South Africa.Local evidence also shows that the situation is alarming in the latest adolescent pregnancy data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), which shows that 90 037 girls aged ten to 19 years gave birth from March 2021 to April 2022 in all nine provinces. The report further revealed that of the almost 34 000 teenage pregnancies during 2020, 660 of those were girls under the age of 13 years. Although these pregnancies fall into the statutory rape category of the sexual offences act of South Africa, many of them go unreported due to social stigma and fear. South Africa also has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies globally with one in four teenagers falling pregnant before 20 years. 

Last year the Department of Basic Education introduced the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools Act, (3) as a way to address the rising number of girl learners who become pregnant while still in school. The policy makes pregnancy by a minor a notifiable incident, where the school is obligated to notify authorities of the pregnancy. This has resulted in a number of cases being reported to SAPS and enabling better collection of data. However this is not enough, as many of these pregnant minors are quickly pulled out of school and hidden from society before the child can show or the school can find out and report the matter to the authorities.

It is against this background that we urge Minister Joe Phaahla in the Department of Health to introduce a similar policy, that makes pregnancy by a minor a notifiable incident in the health care sector. The introduction of this policy will strengthen the existing constitutional Child Protection Act of 2005 provision, and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 Of 2007 by making it compulsory for medical personnel to report pregnancies of minors to the police so that criminal investigations can be carried and various support programmes can be built as a way curb the ever increasing statutory rapes of minors. This should include medical professionals of all aspects, even midwives and doulas specifically because some of these young girls are forced to endure childbirth at home with a doula or midwife. The law must then equally require midwives and doulas to report underage pregnancies. 

Teenage pregnancy and early motherhood have a lasting effect on both the mother and child. Being a child of a teenage mother often means complications of the mother's pregnancy and delivery and in some instances the children of children suffer from lower IQ and academic achievement later on which places them at a greater risk of socio-economic problems. In South Africa teenage pregnancy and the prevailing cultural beliefs forces girls to drop out of school, trapping many in a cycle of poverty and being dependent on public assistance if not coerced into arranged marriages. Teenage pregnancies also place young girls in danger of STDs and HIV. We also can no longer allow for the glossing over of statutory rape. These teenage pregnancies are an erasure of a deeper problem of pedophilia and rape in our society!. 

Your signature can help us fight the growing scourge of pregnant children, ensure that statutory rapists are arrested and that statutory rapists are deterred from committing these heinous crimes thus saving the future of vulnerable young girls.

Real change happens when everyday people like you and I come together and stand up for what we believe in. Together we can reach heaps of people and help create change around this important issue.

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