Paraguay: Study on forced marriages and unions disclosed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The study revealed information on early and forced marriages and unions, as well as the close link between pregnancy, poverty and school dropout.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Plan International Paraguay presented the factors that condition girls and adolescents to the loss of opportunities, the abandonment of their life plans and the reproduction of these conditioning factors.

In 2017, some 700,000 people in the country made up the 13-17 age group, of which 16,589 were girls and women who reported being united or married, with 62.9% living in rural areas.

On the other hand, 16.1% of girls and adolescents aged 15 to 19 reported being married or in a union, and this figure rises to approximately 1 in 3 among those who have reached the primary school level (1st and 2nd grades of Basic School Education) and among those from indigenous ethnicities (36.6% and 30.8% respectively).

Some 42.5% of adolescent girls are united or married to men of the same age or up to 4 years older, although the share of adolescent girls in marriages or unions with men with an age difference of 5 years or more (including men 10 years older) stands at 53.2%.

One of the main reasons for unions or marriages at an early age with an adult is usually related to multiple economic issues of families, considering that they belong to sectors in poverty and with low schooling rates.

The research was conducted in focus groups in Asunción and in the departments of Central, San Pedro, Caaguazú, Alto Paraná and Amambay, which complement the analysis from the standpoint and experience of participants.

The Plan International’s global movement Girls with Equality seeks equality and equal opportunities for girls, young women and adolescents worldwide.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in 2015, incorporate a roadmap for progress that is sustainable and leaves no one behind.

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Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is an integral part of each of the 17 goals. Only by ensuring the rights of women and girls in all of the goals will justice and inclusion be achieved, economies that work for all, and sustaining a shared environment now and for future generations.

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