From History to Headlines: The Tragedy of Children Bearing Children

We live in a time where it is universally frowned upon and rightly so for grown men to have relations with children. As someone who survived sexual abuse by family members before I even turned 11, I know firsthand the lifetime of health struggles, physical and emotional, that come from such exploitation. This post is not here to provoke, but to tell the truth: our history and our present-day culture both reveal uncomfortable realities we cannot ignore.

In many ancient societies, puberty marked the transition to womanhood. A girl who began menstruating (bleeding) sometimes as young as 11 and was seen as ready for marriage and childbearing.

• In ancient Rome, the legal marriage age was 12 for girls.

• In medieval Europe, child marriages were arranged for political or economic gain, often consummated far too early.

• In parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, child marriage tied into family honor, dowries, and alliances, traditions that, sadly, still exist in some regions today.

The biological risks of pregnancy at 11 are devastating. A girl’s pelvis is rarely developed enough to handle childbirth, leading to obstructed labor, fistulas, and death. Many who survived faced lifelong complications, were removed from school, and lost their identities to forced motherhood.

By the 19th and 20th centuries, industrialized nations began treating childhood differently. Compulsory schooling, child labor laws, and age-of-consent laws shifted the view. What was once normalized became increasingly seen as abuse.
Today, pregnancy at 11 is universally viewed as statutory rape and child abuse. International organizations like the UN and WHO continue fighting child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, calling it a human rights violation.

• Lina Medina (Peru, 1939): The youngest confirmed mother at only 5 years old, abused and impregnated, her case remains one of the most tragic examples of child exploitation.

• Margaret Beaufort (England, 15th century): Married at 12, gave birth at 13 to Henry VII. Her story shows how political ambition often robbed girls of childhood.

• American Slavery: Enslaved girls were forced into pregnancies to increase “stock.” Enslavers often raped them, seeing their bodies as property rather than human.

Sexual abuse has never been limited to girls. Boys throughout history have also been victimized:

• Ancient Rome & Greece: Young boys were often exploited by older men in systems that normalized pederasty.

• Slavery in the Americas: Male slaves were assaulted by their owners for control, humiliation, and gratification. Boys, too, were not safe. They were abused in silence because masculinity and shame kept their voices buried.

• Modern Times: Boys today face sexual abuse, often overlooked or disbelieved. Trauma in young men is compounded by stigma that tells them to “man up” instead of heal.

Slavery is the clearest image of ownership and dehumanization. Slave owners(nasty) men and women had sex with whomever they pleased: boys, girls, women, and men. It was not about love; it was about power, property, and dominance.

The enslaved were seen as things, not people. Their bodies were stolen, their children sold, their choices erased. This system of sexual exploitation was generational and passing down both trauma and children born of rape.

This is why I define slavery not just as chains and fields, but as the act of taking what does not belong to you: a body, innocence, freedom, dignity.

Today we condemn abuse but also fuel a culture of overexposure. Parents sell children’s images for likes and fame. Brands profit from sexualizing kids’ clothing. Social media glorifies nakedness and exploitation while society pretends shock when tragedies—rape, kidnapping, murder—occur.

We cannot condemn abuse while normalizing the environment that enables it.

I am not here to debate. I am here to discuss and to urge us toward accountability:

• Stop condemning while silently enabling.

• Stop participating in abusive cycles and start being the example.

• Stop idolizing exploitation and start protecting innocence.

• Protect both boys and girls because neither is immune to abuse.

We must pray, speak life, and not be afraid of uncomfortable truths. Fear of people keeps us silent, but silence protects abusers. I fear only God, not the backlash of speaking truth.

As Charlie Kirk once said, “Die for what you believe in.” I believe in speaking Jesus and allow him to  protect children, exposing abuse, and ending modern slavery. I pray this is done by changing the mindset of the ones who has authority over them. However, all that is going on is spoken in that book that we tend to neglect, called the BIBLE.  Even if these words fall on deaf ears, they are still a seed of truth planted.

History shows us that children as young as 11 were once forced into motherhood. Today, it is no longer acceptable—but the spirit of exploitation continues. Whether in slavery, social media, trafficking, or silence, children, boys and girls, remain at risk. We cannot change the past, but we can stop repeating it.

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