The recent landmark rulings by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee in the “They Are Girls, Not Mothers” cases set new human rights standards for sexual abuse survivors in States across the world.  

Catalina Martínez Coral, the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, discussed the significance of the Committee’s decisions at a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, held after the decisions were announced in January.

The rulings came in three cases brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners on behalf of Latin American girls who were raped at the ages of 12 and 13, denied access to sexual and reproductive health services—including abortion care—and forced to give birth.  

Finding that Ecuador and Nicaragua violated the human rights of the girls, the Committee called on States to implement measures to prevent girls from being forced into pregnancy and motherhood.

“The first thing I want to highlight about the decisions is that these girls and women today have access to justice,” Martínez Coral told the media. “It is the door to justice that they did not find in Ecuador, that they did not find in Nicaragua. . . I want to recognize the strength, the bravery, and the struggle of our clients who shared their stories. . . who put their struggles into this litigation so that these decisions hopefully can change the lives of other girls as well.” 

Martinez Coral added that the Committee’s decisions:

• “Are very important signals of global reach,” since the new standards for sexual abuse survivors will extend to more than 170 countries that are member States of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). 
• Respond to a context of sexual violence in which “our girls and our women suffer in this region and in the world.” 
• Were significant in that the Committee recognized that denying girls and women access to health services “imposes on them a condition of forced pregnancy and motherhood” which “constitutes human rights violations.” 
• Barriers to reproductive health services are based on gender discrimination and reinforce “a social role that has been imposed on women and girls: the role of gestation and motherhood, which we are expected to fulfill even in cases like this, where pregnancy results from violence.” 

  These cases are a key component of the “Son niñas, no madres” (“They are girls, not mothers”) movement, which sheds light on the negative impacts of highly restrictive abortion laws throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Also speaking at the January 22 press conference were Ana Cristina Vera, Executive Director of Surkuna, Ecuador; and Paulina Ponce, Deputy Director of Ecuador Programs at Planned Parenthood, which served as a co-litigant on the case.

View photos of the event:

Watch a replay of the press conference (in Spanish):

Media coverage highlights

English language:

• “Girls win: The UN condemns Ecuador and Nicaragua for forced pregnancies,” Global Voices, 01.29.25
• “UN Rules That Girls Forced Into Motherhood Abuses Their Human Rights,” Pass Blue, 01.28.25 
• “They are girls, not mothers: Latin American women advocate against child pregnancy,” El Pais, 01.31.25 
• “U.N. Landmark Ruling Condemns Ecuador and Nicaragua for Forcing Girls Into Motherhood,” Ms., 01.31.25

Spanish language:

• “‘Son Niñas, No Madres,’ un movimiento que exige se respeten los derechos de los menores,” Milenio, 01.26.25 
• “Tres niñas demostraron que la maternidad forzada es ‘violación de derechos humanos,'” Radio Pichincha, 01.23.25 
• “Organizaciones impulsarán que Ecuador cumpla con fallo de Comité de la ONU sobre el aborto,” El nuevo diario, 01.23.25 
• “Organizaciones impulsarán que Ecuador cumpla con fallo de Comité de la ONU sobre caso de niña abusada que dio a luz,” Vistazo.com, 01.23.25 
• “Organizaciones impulsarán que Ecuador cumpla con fallo de Comité de la ONU sobre el aborto,” MSN, 01.23.25 
• “Organizaciones impulsarán que Ecuador cumpla con fallo de Comité de ONU sobre aborto,” Expreso, 01.23.25 
• “Comité de la ONU condena el embarazo forzado de tres niñas en Ecuador y Nicaragua,” Casa de la mujer, 01.23.25 
• “Cunde crisis en países latinoamericanos de niñas embarazadas de 10 a 14 años,” La RED, 01.23.25 
• “ONU condena a Nicaragua y Ecuador por maternidad forzada,” Elefante blanco, 01.23.25 
• “‘Son Niñas, no madres,’ un movimiento que exige se respeten los derechos de los menores,” Milenio, 01.23.25 
• “Las niñas triunfan: ONU condena a Ecuador y Nicaragua por maternidades forzadas,” Global Voices, 01.23.25