Venezuela's food shortages, inflation and crumbling medical sector have become such a source of anguish that a growing number of young women are reluctantly opting for sterilizations rather than face the hardship of pregnancy and child-rearing. Traditional contraceptives like condoms or birth control pills have virtually vanished from store shelves, pushing women towards the hard-to-reverse surgery. While no recent national statistics on sterilizations are available, doctors and health workers say demand for the procedure is growing. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Children fill plastic containers with water from a well on a street, close to a neighbourhood called “The Tank” in the slum of Petare in Caracas, Venezuela, March 17, 2016. Although their nation has one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams and vast rivers like the fabled Orinoco, Venezuelans are still suffering water and power cuts most days. The problems with stuttering services have escalated in the last few weeks: yet another headache for the OPEC nation's 30 million people already reeling from recession, the world's highest inflation rate, and scarcities of basic goods. President Nicolas Maduro blames a drought, while the opposition blames government incompetence. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

A view of electricity wires, in Caracas, Venezuela, 03 April 2019. West Venezuela started receiving electricity intermittently in the states of Zulia, Falcon, Merida and Trujillo after 100 hours without power. (Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Models pose for a photograph backstage before the Miss Koch beauty pageant, titled “Getting to Zero Teenage Pregnancy”, at the Korogocho slums in Nairobi, December 6, 2014. The winner of the pageant, Miss Koch Kenya, will represent and lead the non-governmental organization to encourage youths in slums to overcome challenges such as poverty, crime, drug and sexual abuse, according to organisers. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Miss Costa Rica Maria Fernanda Rodriguez Ávila competes in the evening gown competition during the preliminary round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in New Orleans, Wednesday, January 11, 2023. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

Miss Haiti Mideline Phelizor competes in the evening gown competition during the preliminary round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in New Orleans, Wednesday, January 11, 2023. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant gather for rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (Photo by Oded Balilty/AP Photo)

Miss Panama Solaris Barba competes in the evening gown competition during the preliminary round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in New Orleans, Wednesday, January 11, 2023. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)