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Adolescent Pregnancy in Colombia: The Price of Inequality and Political Conflict

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International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy

Abstract

For two decades, the reproductive behavior of adolescents in Colombia placed the country in the middle range among countries in Latin America, the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Haiti, and Jamaica in terms of adolescent fertility rates. Despite a recent drop in the proportion of adolescent mothers, as described in this chapter, births to adolescents in Colombia continue to be a concern for the government, schools, researchers, service providers, and certainly for families. The adolescent birth rate in Colombia has fluctuated since 1990 when it was estimated at 70 per 1,000 in 15–19-year-old females. Currently, the national birth rate among Colombian adolescents is at 84/1,000. In Colombia, as in the rest of Latin America, several factors are associated with higher prevalence of pregnancy and birth among adolescents, such as area of residence (rural vs. urban), ethnicity (indigenous/African descent), socioeconomic status, and level of education. As expected, there are more adolescent mothers in rural Colombia (22.2 %) than in urban centers (13.8 %). However, total fertility rate (among all women 15–45 years old), as well as adolescent fertility rate (AFR), decreased in both rural and urban areas compared with 2005 levels. Colombia has made great advancements in its legislation regarding rights to adolescents, including sexual and reproductive rights; the general intention of public policies is to empower adolescents and improve their sexual and reproductive health. Unfortunately, despite progressive rhetoric, intentions have been greater than actions at the national level and more political will and pressure from the civil society are necessary in order to reverse the current fertility trend among adolescents and design the future that they deserve. Furthermore, gender and economic inequality, which significantly impact human development and the peaceful progress of the Colombian society, must be greatly reduced in order to offer adolescents true opportunities for social mobility and self-realization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bilingual Therapist, HOPE Community Services, Inc. Oklahoma City, OK, 3824 Warrington Way, Norman, OK, 73072, USA

    Mónica M. Alzate

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  1. Mónica M. Alzate
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Correspondence to Mónica M. Alzate .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

    Andrew L. Cherry

  2. University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA

    Mary E. Dillon

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Alzate, M.M. (2014). Adolescent Pregnancy in Colombia: The Price of Inequality and Political Conflict. In: Cherry, A., Dillon, M. (eds) International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8026-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8026-7_13

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