Unwed pregnancy increasing rapidly

"The tender age girls who come with economic hardship from the rural areas to cities to work are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking facing severe consequences including premarital pregnancy, unsafe and risky abortions and other health hazards," it said.

Dr Afroz Akter of Women for Women, a rights group, recently led the study on unwed pregnancy interviewing 60 unmarried mothers, 70 per cent of them adolescents and the rest 30 per cent "young adults" in the country.

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The study team also quizzed 26 families having adolescent sons or daughters, 36 factory owners and employers and 20 social workers.

The research revealed that the premarital pregnancy affects most of those who were living on their own working as domestic help and factory workers as the unexpected conception forces them out of jobs as well as shelters.

Though 40 per cent of the interviewees had some level of education but they did not or could not continue formal education due to poverty that drive them to seek jobs for survival and become exposed to sexual exploitation, the report said.

The tender aged women are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation than adult women as about 90 per cent of the total interviewees said they had no access to contraceptives and did not know how to use or convince the partner to use contraceptives, the report said.

The study, however, found that in most cases, the women were involved in premarital sexual interaction in her wish, but in many cases, the consent taken through "different tactics as falsely professing love, threatening to end the relationship, verbal threat or offering money."

The research paper also said the kind of sexual education and materials do little for the young women to come to terms with their own feeling of sexuality.

"TV programming and advertising provide young people with lots of clues about how to be sexy but little information about how to be sexually responsible," it said.

Premarital pregnancies, in most cases, result dangerous consequences as the unwed mothers face higher medical risks, unsafe abortions, give birth to low-weight babies and sometime sexually transmitted diseases.

The study also shows that after the pregnancy, the families and so-called "lovers" abandon most of the unwed mothers while their employers drive them out of jobs exposing to social discrimination.

The study has recommended safeguarding the young migrant workers by a state policy and incorporating sex education and awareness curriculum in the education system.