In any case, the woman will be the guilty

Baku/14.07.21/Turan: On July 7, in Sumgayit, a newborn girl was found in a garbage container, and a few days ago, a boy was found in the yard of one of the old departments of Ujar region. Both children were hospitalized, now their health is satisfactory.

What motivates parents to do this to their newborns? Are there many cases of parents abandoning their children in Azerbaijan?

Elgun Safarov, head of the information and analytical research department of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children, told Turan that in recent years the number of abandonment of children has decreased. “There is no country in the world where there are no abandoned children. Compared to neighboring countries, there are several times fewer children deprived of parental care in Azerbaijan and their number continues to decline. So, in 2016 there were 21 thousand of such children; last year there were up to 3 thousand, but this does not mean at all that we are satisfied with such a result."

Safarov noted that such cases are unacceptable. “We always urge citizens, if they have any problems, if they didn’t want a child, but he was still born, contact the state authorities.”

Referring to the reasons for the abandonment of the child, he said that negotiations are being conducted with each such family on an individual basis. “Very often the talk is about children born from informal marriages and relationships. These persons do not want to take responsibility for the maintenance of the child if there is no family. Unfortunately, in some cases children are abandoned because newborns are girls.”

Safarov stressed that if the parents do not want to fulfill their parental duty, then the state takes care of the child. The Constitution and the Law "On the Rights of the Child" indicate that this is a direct responsibility of the state, and all measures are taken, from participation in the upbringing of a child to his education and health."

He noted that a set of measures must be taken to reduce the number of children deprived of parental care. “In this sense, one of the reasons for the decline in statistics is the actualization of adoption. We support this. We are for the child to grow up in the family, but on condition that the child’s rights are respected and health is not harmed”.

According to Safarov, the responsibility of parents should also be increased. “Unfortunately, in some young families there is no parental responsibility. We encourage those in informal relationships to enter into formal marriage. On the other hand, we are fighting gender stereotypes. We have launched the campaign “I am proud to be the father of a girl”. Through this campaign, we want to protect the

rights of girls. This work should be long-term; the fight against stereotypes should be carried out jointly. We would very much like to see such a subject as "Family life" included in the curriculum of secondary educational institutions.

The chair of the Azerbaijan Children's Union Kamala Agazade said that the reasons for this form of abandonment of children are varied. “There is a fear of condemnation from the family and society because of the birth of an illegitimate child. An illegitimate pregnancy can be associated with drug use. There may be many reasons, but they all ultimately have social roots. "

She noted that improper upbringing of girls in families, preference for early marriages ultimately lead to getting rid of an unwanted child. "Pregnancy should be planned, but today the family foundations in Azerbaijan are under threat. To stop this process, a serious propaganda campaign is needed. Unfortunately, this problem is actualized after the fact, and preventive measures are not taken."

The writer Zumrud Yagmur said that such phenomena have always existed in Azerbaijan, just today, in the age of the Internet, such news spreads quickly.

According to her, a mother's abandonment of a child is a very painful process. “Recently, cases of aggression against women have become more frequent in Azerbaijan. When this happens, especially in the regions, a woman cannot share her problem with anyone; she does not know where to turn. Because in any case, the woman will be guilty. As a result, when faced with inhuman treatment, she tries to get rid of the problem in an inhumane way."

The writer noted that the reason for getting rid of the child could be that the newborn is a girl. “On the other hand, there are social problems, the vulnerability of women. The state does not protect women when they face problems. There are practically no regional centers or crisis centers where women could turn with their problems. All this causes such terrible cases. -0-