A number of 36 teenage girls gave birth at Municipal Hospital No. 1 in Chisinau during the first half of this year. The youngest of these was 13. In 2016 and 2017, the figure stood at 66, Lucia Kachuk, acting head of the Chisinau Children’s Rights Protection Division, was quoted by IPN as saying in a roundtable meeting.

According to Lucia Kachuk, of the 36 minor girls who became mothers in the first six months of this year, one was aged 13, three were aged 14, six – 15, nine – 16, and 17 were aged 17. The number of abortions among teenage girls increases.

There are a number of causes that lead to early pregnancies. Among these are the migration of parents, bad habits, low level of education, sexual abuse, etc. These girls become extremely vulnerable in such situations and often resort to suicide or abandon the children. “It is a child with another child and the first didn’t fully leave childhood,” stated the official.

Lucia Kachuk noted sexual-reproductive education programs should be introduced in schools and the values of the family and the role of parents in raising a child should be promoted.

Attending the roundtable meeting, the ombudswoman for children’s rights Maia Bănărescu said sexual education among children should not be a taboo subject. This is a form of maintaining one’s health and of protecting children against sexual abuse. Sexual education should start at an early age as the online environment becomes more noxious in this regard.