El Salvador's Zika crisis compounded by failings of state, violence and machismo
El Salvador's Zika crisis compounded by failings of state, violence and machismo
Virus-infected women in the Central American country face the world’s harshest abortion law, little sex education, and prevalent gang and sexual violence
Nina Lakhani in Aguilares
Friday 12 February 2016 05.00 EST
Vanesa del Carmen Velásquez was 26 weeks pregnant when, just before Christmas, her joints started to ache. A day or so later came an itchy rash across her body and a fever of 39C (102F), swiftly followed by raw red conjunctivitis eyes. Velásquez, 23, had been terrified by stories linking Zika to birth defects, so on Christmas Day she drove 25 miles south from the semi-rural canton of Aguilares to the nearest public hospital in the capital, San Salvador. After a simple blood and urine test, the hospital said Velásquez was suffering an allergic reaction and sent her home with no follow-up.
“I thought it was Zika – three others in my family had the same symptoms – so I felt relieved when they said it was just an allergy. They didn’t give me an ultrasound, but said not to worry as I was past the first trimester,” said Velasquez, who is now 32 weeks pregnant.
But the all-clear was a mistake: the ache, the rash, the temperature were all symptoms of the Zika virus. Velásquez’s name appears on El Salvador’s national register of cases which should be closely monitored, yet until recently she had received no follow-up from healthcare workers.
. . .
But women’s rights activists said that the controversial advice failed to reflect the country’s entrenched culture of sexism which leaves many women – especially poor women – with little control over their bodies.
Mariela Hernández, a health adviser for pregnant teenagers and adolescent mothers, said that most of the girls she works with have much older boyfriends; including one pregnant 15-year-old whose partner is 60. “She is with this man out of necessity, because she needed to get out of her family home,” said Hernández. “This is a culture of machismo: many girls are dominated by their partners; contraception and pregnancy isn’t always their choice,” said Hernandez.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/12/el-salvador-zika-crisis-compounded-by-failings-of-state-violence-and-machismo
