TEDGlobal 2017
Christian Rodríguez: What teen pregnancy looks like in Latin America
Filmed:
Readability: 5.2
1,222,731 views
Christian Rodríguez is a photographer and filmmaker -- and the son of a teenage mother. For the past five years, he has documented teen pregnancy in Latin America, creating intimate and dignified portraits of mothers as young as 12 years old. In this moving, visual talk, he shares his work and explores how young motherhood traps girls in a cycle of poverty and exploitation.
Christian Rodríguez - Documentary photographer
TED Fellow Christian Rodríguez explores themes related to gender and identity, working with communities all over the world. Full bio
TED Fellow Christian Rodríguez explores themes related to gender and identity, working with communities all over the world. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
For the last five years,
0
760
1656
00:14
I have documented the lives
of teenage mothers in Latin America.
of teenage mothers in Latin America.
1
2440
4160
00:19
I started with a series of photographs
2
7400
3096
00:22
about the moment of birth
3
10520
1696
00:24
in my country, Uruguay.
4
12240
1600
00:29
(Video) (Screaming)
5
17280
1240
00:33
(Grunting)
6
21760
1280
00:37
(Newborn crying)
7
25120
1200
00:50
I am the son of a teenage mother
8
38600
2656
00:53
and my sister became
a teenage mother when she was 16.
a teenage mother when she was 16.
9
41280
3240
00:57
I began exploring the theme
10
45400
1936
00:59
to better understand
myself and my origins.
myself and my origins.
11
47360
3000
01:04
In developing countries,
12
52240
1360
01:06
7.3 million girls under the age of 18
13
54440
4136
01:10
give birth each year.
14
58600
1150
01:13
Projections suggest
15
61080
1576
01:14
that the teen pregnancy rate
in Latin America
in Latin America
16
62680
2696
01:17
will be the highest in the world
17
65400
2016
01:19
for the next 80 years.
18
67440
1520
01:21
In Mexico, almost one in two
sexually active adolescents
sexually active adolescents
19
69720
4936
01:26
get pregnant between the ages
of 12 to 19 years old.
of 12 to 19 years old.
20
74680
3080
01:31
Teenage pregnancy
is not just about young pregnancies.
is not just about young pregnancies.
21
79720
3240
01:35
It is about gender violence,
22
83480
2136
01:37
physical, symbolic, psychological
and economic violence.
and economic violence.
23
85640
4720
01:43
Girls who become pregnant
before they are 18
before they are 18
24
91360
2656
01:46
rarely achieve an adequate
standard of living.
standard of living.
25
94040
2600
01:50
The pattern of poverty
26
98040
1656
01:51
and limited access
to education and health care
to education and health care
27
99720
2856
01:54
are a common thread
among teen pregnancies.
among teen pregnancies.
28
102600
2480
01:57
If a girl in Latin America
gets pregnant before she is 16,
gets pregnant before she is 16,
29
105920
4456
02:02
the risk of maternal death
increases fourfold
increases fourfold
30
110400
3456
02:05
over a woman in their 20s.
31
113880
1840
02:09
And somehow, in spite of all this,
32
117120
3000
02:12
motherhood also imparts a status
33
120880
3016
02:15
and a respect to the adolescent
in her community.
in her community.
34
123920
2840
02:20
Her child becomes her life project.
35
128440
3120
02:25
A high percentage of girls
under the age of 18 are single mothers,
under the age of 18 are single mothers,
36
133160
4456
02:29
as was my mother.
37
137640
1240
02:31
When I was learning to be a parent,
38
139720
2056
02:33
I began to focus on the relationship
between father and child,
between father and child,
39
141800
4376
02:38
a subject rarely given much attention.
40
146200
2720
02:42
I wanted to highlight the ways
41
150080
1976
02:44
in which we need
to educate boys differently
to educate boys differently
42
152080
2656
02:46
without turning them into macho men.
43
154760
2080
02:49
In some cases, families
send boys to school but not girls.
send boys to school but not girls.
44
157560
3520
02:54
The persistence of teen pregnancy
heightened the gender equity gap
heightened the gender equity gap
45
162160
4496
02:58
and the continued existence
of traditional roles.
of traditional roles.
46
166680
3200
03:03
If we were to allow
equal opportunities to girls,
equal opportunities to girls,
47
171000
3296
03:06
they could gain independence.
48
174320
1640
03:09
Educating girls is key
49
177480
2496
03:12
to breaking cycles of teen pregnancies.
50
180000
2840
03:16
Girls getting pregnant
between the ages of 10 to 14
between the ages of 10 to 14
51
184520
4296
03:20
are an extremely vulnerable population,
52
188840
2776
03:23
and they can be easy prey
for men twice their age.
for men twice their age.
53
191640
2600
03:27
There are many cases of violence,
54
195000
2296
03:29
incest and sexual abuse
55
197320
2056
03:31
perpetrated against this group.
56
199400
1880
03:34
This is Gloria.
57
202640
1376
03:36
She became a teen mother at the age of 12,
58
204040
2496
03:38
a result of the ongoing
abuse by her father,
abuse by her father,
59
206560
2816
03:41
who was also raping Gloria's two sisters,
60
209400
1960
03:44
ages 8 and 16.
61
212080
1800
03:47
In this portrait,
she has butterflies in her hair,
she has butterflies in her hair,
62
215600
3080
03:51
symbols of resurrection.
63
219880
1640
03:54
For me, it's extremely important
to portray this mother with dignity.
to portray this mother with dignity.
64
222240
5200
04:00
Pregnancies among girls
younger than 15 is a growing trend,
younger than 15 is a growing trend,
65
228760
3536
04:04
not only in Latin America,
66
232320
1536
04:05
but many developing
countries in the world.
countries in the world.
67
233880
2040
04:09
Our region is marred
by bad social and cultural inequalities,
by bad social and cultural inequalities,
68
237040
4936
04:14
and teen pregnancy
further increases this divide.
further increases this divide.
69
242000
3240
04:18
I am committing
to being part of the solution
to being part of the solution
70
246240
2136
04:20
by making work that implicitly
and emphatically
and emphatically
71
248400
2856
04:23
calls for human rights for girls.
72
251280
1880
04:26
The day life projects
for boys and girls become similar,
for boys and girls become similar,
73
254920
5135
04:32
teenage pregnancy will decrease.
74
260079
1897
04:34
Thank you.
75
262000
1216
04:35
(Applause)
76
263240
5160
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Christian Rodríguez - Documentary photographerTED Fellow Christian Rodríguez explores themes related to gender and identity, working with communities all over the world.
Why you should listen
Christian Rodríguez is developing two main long-term projects: "Teen Mom," about teenage pregnancy in Latin America; and a personal project on magical realism, the Latin American literary trend. His work has been exhibited in festivals all over the world, such as GetxoPhoto, PhotoEspaña, Paraty Em Foco, Photo Phnom Penh Festival, Photobook Bristol, Photoville and the "Bienal de Fotografía" of the "Centro de la Imagen" (Mexico), and it has been published internationally, including National Geographic, the New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, El Mundo and others.
In addition to his work as a photographer, Rodríguez is creator and director of SAN JOSE FOTO International festival in Uruguay. He has been awarded the Roberto Villagraz Scholarship of EFTI (Spain), Nuevo Talento Fnac (Spain), Ojo de Pez Human Rights First Prize (Spain) and Getty Instagram Grant 2016 among others. Rodríguez gives workshops and lectures in Latin America and Europe, and he is a member of Prime Collective. He became a TED Fellow in 2017.
Christian Rodríguez | Speaker | TED.com