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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Sarah Johnson in Santo Domingo

‘I can’t bear the pain’: grieving the lives lost to the Dominican Republic’s abortion ban

A red wall with family photos of children on the wall and a framed photo collage on the dressing table
A framed collage of photos of Rossa Nelly, who died after getting a backstreet abortion, at her mother’s home in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Photograph: Tatiana Fernandez/The Guardian

One of the walls in Alba Nely Peña’s front room is adorned with graduation photos of her children. She gave birth to three boys and three girls, but only five smiling faces are on display in her house on the outskirts of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

“My youngest one died. I took her photo down because I can’t bear the pain,” she says, before going into a back room and digging out a framed collage of photos of her daughter. On it are written the words: “We will always remember you, Rossa.”

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