11-Year-Old Girl Denied Abortion Gives Birth in Paraguay

An 11-year-old girl who was raped by her mother's boyfriend gave birth in Paraguay on Thursday, highlighting the epidemic of sexual abuse children face in the country.

Mainumby was 10 when she was raped and legally forced to keep the child since her life was allegedly not at risk, the only justification for legal abortion in Paraguay.

The case sparked international outcry with U.N. officials criticizing the Paraguayan Government for denying her abortion.

“(The Paraguayan government) decided to gamble with her health, life and integrity despite overwhelming evidence that this pregnancy was extremely risky and despite the fact that she was a rape victim and a child," said Erika Guevara, the Amnesty International director for Latin America.

RELATED: Latin America’s Safe Abortion Hotlines: Reproductive Rights 911

UNICEF has also accused the Latin American country for failing to protect girls from sexual abuse.

According to official figures, there are two deliveries per day among girls between 10 to 14 years old and another 53 births among adolescents between 15 and 19.

Mainumby currently resides in a shelter and is ocassionally visited by her mother, who was in prison for two months for parental neglect.

The biological father, Gilberto Martinez Zarate, age 42, was taken into custody in May and is awaiting trial on rape charges. He could receive between 12-15 years in jail if convicted.