The Research Group on Public Health of the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia has studied the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of how teenage girls perceive shame and other intimidation tactics used by school teachers against teens that become pregnant. It is published as open access article in the Revista Medica de Risaralda.

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescent pregnancy continues to be a public health issue in Colombia. Although there has been an increase on sexual and reproductive health education, and facilitation of access to both health services and contraceptive methods, the number of adolescent pregnancies continues to be high. Other studies have shown that pregnancy is related to other social determinants such as loss of values, human rights violations, cultural characteristics and socioeconomic conditions. Methods: The study inquired about adolescent perception on bullying surrounding pregnant adolescents at school. A descriptive study was conducted upon the answer of 39,044 adolescent students enrolled on grades ninth to eleventh at 273 schools in Bogota on a survey regarding their sexual behavior during the first semester of 2010. Five questions related to pregnant girls bullying were analyzed. Results: 45% (17,737) of the subjects were male, and 23% of the attended private schools. Two hundred seventy two girls (0.69%) were pregnant at the moment of the survey 10.3% from private schools. Discussion: The main intimidation act perceived was: teachers publicly tell their students that the girls made a big mistake getting pregnant. Answers showed that pregnant girls suffer bullying by their teachers and classmates.

Key words: Adolescent; pregnancy; bullying; perception; Colombia