How Dominican Republic women fight child marriage and teen pregnancy while facing total abortion ban

AZUA, Dominican Republic (AP) — It was a busy Saturday morning at Marcia González's church. A bishop was visiting, and normally she would have been there helping with logistics, but on this day she was teaching sex education at a local school.

“I coordinate activities at the church and my husband is a deacon,” González said.

“The bishop comes once a year and children are being confirmed, but I am here because this is important for my community.”

For 40 years, González and her husband have pushed for broader sex education in the Dominican Republican, one of four Latin American nations that criminalise abortion without exceptions.

Women face up to two years in prison for having an abortion; penalties for doctors or midwives range from 5 to 20 years.

With a Bible on its flag, the Caribbean country has a powerful lobby of Catholics and evangelicals who are united against decriminalising abortion.

President Luis Abinader committed to the decriminalisation of abortion as a candidate in 2020, but his government hasn't acted on that pledge.

For now, it depends on whether he is re-elected in May.

To help girls prevent unplanned pregnancies in this context, González and other activists have developed “teenage clubs,” where adolescents learn about sexual and reproductive rights, self-esteem, gender violence, finances and other topics.

The goal is to empower future generations of Dominican women.

Outside the clubs, sex education is often insufficient, according to activists. Close to 30% of adolescents don't have access to contraception.

High poverty levels increase the risks of facing an unwanted pregnancy.

For the teenagers she mentors, González's concerns also go beyond the impossibility of terminating a pregnancy.

According to activists, poverty forces some Dominican mothers to marry their 14 or 15-year-old daughters to men up to 50 years older.

Nearly 7 out of 10 women suffer from gender violence such as incest, and families often remain silent regarding sexual abuse.

For every 1,000 adolescents between 15 and 19, 42 became mothers in 2023, according to the United Nations Population Fund. And until 2019, when UNICEF published its latest report on child marriage, more than a third of Dominican women married or entered a free union before turning 18.

Dominican laws have prohibited child marriage since 2021, but community leaders say that such unions are still common because the practise has been normalised and few people are aware of the statute.

“In my 14-year-old granddaughter's class, two of her younger friends are already married,” González said.

“Many mothers give the responsibility of their younger children to their older daughters so, instead of taking care of little boys, they run away with a husband.”

Activists hope education can help prevent girls from facing this situation.

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