‘Our girls are not statistics’ — ALP, FGM demand national action after teen moms’ tragedies

Feb 27, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Leaders of the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) Simona Broomes and Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Amanza Walton Desir (MP) are both calling on the Government of Guyana to do better, following recent incidents involving teenage mothers resulting in the death of one and another fighting for her life.

Kaieteur News reported on Thursday that Aleena Preetam a former student of Abram Zuil Secondary School was found dead in her bedroom. The teen had recently dropped out of school after being transferred to another institution when she discovered she was pregnant. She was found unresponsive in her bedroom after her baby was heard crying for a prolonged period. Concerned relatives went to check on the infant and found Preetam motionless on her bed. Also, on Wednesday this newspaper reported that another 15-year-old girl was stabbed 25 times by her child’s father, in Berbice. Up to press time she was still battling for her life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the New Amsterdam Hospital. The injured mother has been identified as Tiana Chapman of Pepper Street, Edinburg Village, East Bank Berbice. The teen’s lungs have been punctured and doctors have told relatives that “she is critical but stable.” Relatives told Kaieteur News that when they visited the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, Chapman was hooked up to an oxygen machine since she is unable to breathe independently.

Outrage

Meanwhile, in separate statements to the media on Thursday the two political leaders expressed their disgust with the two incidents. Broomes said that her party- ALP is both outraged and heartbroken by the “horrific tragedies” involving the teens. “One child is dead under circumstances that remain unclear. Another is fighting for her life after being stabbed 25 times by the father of her child. Let us be clear: these are not isolated incidents. These are symptoms of a system that is failing our children. Guyana is witnessing an alarming rate in teenage pregnancies, yet the Ministry, the Minister, and the Government continue to operate as though this crisis does not demand urgent, aggressive, and structured intervention.”

Broomes went on to question the existence of preventative programmes, sustained community education, protective frameworks for vulnerable girls and accountability. ALP reminded that a 15-year-old is a child and belongs in school, where they are protected, nurtured and guided, “therefore they should by no means be navigating pregnancy, domestic violence, and life-threatening abuse.” Broomes said that her  party’s mission is to fight for dignity, justice, and rights and highlighted that there is no dignity in a system that allows “our girls to become statistics. When violence against young mothers become routine news there is no justice and there are no rights being protected when children are left exposed to predators, abuse, and neglect.” “Our vision is a Guyana where children can run and play safely, learn in secure environments and grow into adulthood protected and empowered. What we are seeing instead is a failure of social protection, a failure of early intervention, and a failure of leadership,” Broomes, a former government minister, said.

In order to remedy the issues, the ALP is calling on the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to outline publicly what the concrete measures are that are being implemented to address underaged pregnancy, while the Ministry of Education should work on strengthening comprehensive life skills and protection programmes across schools.  The party said too that the law enforcement agencies should work to ensure that there is swift, transparent investigations followed by firm consequences for the perpetrators of violence against minors. Additionally, the ALP said government should be treating this as a national emergency, and not as a headline that will eventually be forgotten in a news cycle. “The ALP will not be silent while our children bleed, suffer, and die. Protecting women and girls is not optional. It is a moral and national responsibility. Guyana cannot prosper while its daughters are unprotected.”

For her part, Walton-Desir said that in the span of days the country has been confronted with two devastating tragedies involving the teen girls. “One young mother in Region Six is fighting for her life after a brutal stabbing, another in Region Two was found unresponsive just one month after giving birth, discovered only because her infant would not stop crying. Two regions, two families, two tragedies, one common thread: our girls are carrying burdens that their bodies, minds, and support systems are not equipped to handle,” the Member of Parliament lamented.

Echoing the sentiments of the ALP the FGM said that at age 15 a child should be in school, where support, guidance and protection is offered. Instead, it is found that there are many adolescent girls navigating unstable relationship, pregnancy, childbirth, and in some instances violence “without structured medical, psychological, or social safeguards.” “The patterns must be recognised and confronted as when a teenage mother intersects with limited access to mental health services, domestic instability, coupled with insufficient post-partum follow up, a condition of vulnerability is created and when this is ignored it leads to tragedy.” “We cannot treat these incidents as isolated. They represent a deeper national issue requiring coordinated intervention across health, education, social protection, and law enforcement systems,” Walton-Desir said.

She said in the event of a 15-year-old giving birth a structured follow up should be triggered and if a minor reports abuse, then there must be a rapid protective response. There must be a pathway back to cater for young mothers who leave school. Walton-Desir said what is required is a structured national adolescent and maternal support protocol, which should entail the activation of automatic medical, psychological, and social follow up when a minor gives birth, “so that no child mother is left to navigate, recovery and responsibility alone.”

“We are a nation experiencing unprecedented economic growth. That growth cannot only be measured in bridges and buildings. It must be measured in whether a 15-year-old mother has structured support around her, whether abuse is intercepted early and whether recovery is supervised and not left to chance,” Walton-Desir noted. She said if these consecutive incidents are not a signal “to us as a society then what will be? The response must be serious, compassionate and coordinated policy action. These young girls are not statistics. They are daughters of this soil. We cannot afford another headline before we act.”

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• Amanza Walton-Desir, Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity, girls, Simona Broomes, teenage mother

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