
Kids with a kid
Teenage pregnancy in the Philippines
With the series Kids with a Kid I challenge one of the most inevitable habits of ourselves: judgement. I aim with this series to have you, the viewer, look with empathy at these teenage mothers, and be open to what it means to be a teenager, a mother, a human being with responsibilities and dreams. With an average of 24 babies born to teenage mothers every hour, teenage pregnancy was declared a national social emergency in 2019 in the Philippines. This number equates to about 500 babies per day of girls aged 10-19. A significant portion of these pregnancies were among girls aged 10-14. Pressure from the catholic corner leads to inadequate sex education and a lack of access to birth control. As a result, some teenagers do not know that pregnancy results from sex and a variety of myths circulate amongst youngsters. The situation is filled with contradictions: In the predominantly catholic country, premarital sex is a sin and abortion is illegal. Meanwhile, at the foot of the Quiapo church in Manila is the place to go for illegal abortion medication. Legally, the minimum age to marry is 18, yet adults are allowed to have sex with children from the age of 12, if they consent. I visited some teenagers in this situation and explored their side of reality. Philippines, 2020-2021 *Numbers according to POPCOM (the Philippine Commission on Population)
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