It’s men we should be targeting to end teenage pregnancy

There needs to be serious introspection by society at the news that, over the past year, more than 23,000 young girls and teenagers have fallen pregnant in Gauteng.

The most worrying aspect of this phenomenon is that, no matter what angle you take on it, there must also be massive abuse and coercion involved.

And a point which has been glossed over in many analyses of what is happening is that men are at the heart of the
problem.

While it is true that it does take two to tango when it comes to sex, the horrific truth is that 934 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 delivered babies … and that there were girls as young as 10 among the 2,976 who terminated pregnancies.

This indicates one thing: an epidemic of rape. A girl under the age of 16 who has sex is deemed, legally, not to
be of sufficient understanding to give consent.

Hence, any sex involving a girl under 16 is rape. Sexual abuse at an early age may also trigger more sexual contact later.

ALSO READ: More than 20,000 teenage pregnancies reported in Gauteng since April 2020

Many of the other cases where girls have fallen pregnant will have seen men exerting their power overtly or subtly over young women.

These men take advantage of circumstances of broken or unhappy home lives, for example, to offer some sort of “comfort” to a lonely girl or one with low self-esteem.

Substance abuse is also a factor in lowering inhibitions among teenagers.

While the educational and social welfare authorities are implementing programmes to improve awareness, as well as self-respect, among girls, they should also not neglect the need to educate boys, from an early age, to respect girls and women.

As a society, though, we cannot ignore the common denominator in both teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence: men.

They are the ones who must change.