Latin America has the highest rate of early sexual initiation in the world: More than 22% of young girls have their first sexual encounter before age 15. Also, violence against women and girls is a critical problem in every country of the region, says Bernt Aasen, Unicef for Latin America and Caribbean regional director.
Among all, one fact stands out: Almost 20% of births in Latin America and Caribbean are to teenage mothers.
Girls of this region are in worst situation than boys in most of all orders and are more vulnerable than them due to two big issues in the region: Inequality and violence.
"Discrimination, early pregnancy, early union, gender violence, domestic work, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, lack of quality health services, lack of quality education services and limited education options in rural zones," are some of the problems they face everyday, Aasen explained.
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