Brazil Activists Target 10-Year-Old Rape Victim

She had to be smuggled into hospital for abortion
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 18, 2020 3:54 PM CDT
Brazil Activists Target 10-Year-Old Rape Victim
People hold up a poster that reads in Portuguese; "Abortion? No!" during a 2013 rally by members of evangelical churches to protest abortion and gay marriage in downtown Brasilia.   (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

A 10-year-old girl in Brazil who didn't want to have her rapist's baby had to fly to a city 900 miles away to have an abortion—and she still had to be smuggled into the hospital. A group of right-wing protesters and politicians gathered outside the Recife hospital after the girl's name and other details were posted online, the BBC reports. Pro-choice activists say the girl was brought to the hospital in the trunk of a car and smuggled in through a side door. Military police had to disperse protesters shouting "Killers!" who tried to force their way into the hospital. Local feminists answered a call on social media and arrived for a counter-demonstration. Brazil has long had strict anti-abortion laws, but the procedure is allowed in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk.

The girl had to travel to Recife after a hospital in her home state refused to terminate the pregnancy. The girl's details were allegedly leaked online by Sarah Giromini, a far-right activist with links to President Jair Bolsonaro's administration. A judge ordered Facebook and other sites to remove the girl's details. The girl told police she had been sexually abused by her uncle since she was 6 years old, the Guardian reports. Paula Viana, a pro-choice activist who escorted the girl to the hospital, says she just wants to go back to playing soccer. "She is very strong, but she is just a child," Viana says. "She will need long-term psychological support. She understands everything that she is going through." (Read more Brazil stories.)

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