The exercise of the right to sexual and reproductive health by the adolescents in the Paraguayan context. Respect for the best interest of the child

Abstract

In Paraguay, three of the problems that statistically most affect peopleduring their adolescent stage are: pregnancy, addiction and violence.Two of them, therefore, are directly linked to the right to sexual andreproductive health and its full exercise. So, without going anyfurther, both teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse are seen as visibleconsequences of failure or improper exercise of these fundamentalrights; vulnerabilities, which must no longer remain invisible and thatthe law should give due response. It is precisely in this context thatthe question about what the real situation in which the guarantee of theright to sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in the currentregulatory framework arises. So, of all the rights of children andadolescents since 1989, with the adoption of the Convention on theRights of the Child, the right to sexual and reproductive health ispresented as one of the most controversial so their effectiverecognition and acceptance by the adult world is concerned. This articlefocuses on what the precise legal status of the ability to exercisetheir rights to sexual and reproductive health in the event that theowner is an adolescent person, and try to do it in an illustrativemanner, from the approach major budgets that can be given about theeveryday reality.