AZE.US
A 16-year-old ninth-grade student in Azerbaijan has given birth, in a case now being investigated by police.
Vesti Baku reports, citing local media, that the incident occurred in the Guba district. The girl, born in 2010 and living in the village of Ashaghi Khuch, was taken to hospital with labor pains at 35 weeks of pregnancy.
According to reports, she became pregnant by another student at the same school.
The condition of the mother and the newborn is reported to be satisfactory.
Police are investigating the case, and the legal aspects are being reviewed by the relevant authorities.
Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs said the incident shows that cases involving minors cannot be viewed from one side only.
The committee said the family environment on both sides, parental supervision, the relationship between school and family, and the wider model of upbringing all play an important role.
The agency also stressed the importance of raising boys with a stronger sense of responsibility and a healthier attitude toward women and children.
It warned that a social approach in which girls are treated as children who must always be “protected,” while boys are given more freedom with less oversight, can lead to serious consequences.
The case in Guba again raises an uncomfortable question for families, schools and public institutions: how can warning signs involving minors be missed until a ninth-grade student is already in a maternity ward?
AZE.US