UN condemns Guatemala for forcing a girl to become a mother
The UN Human Rights Committee has issued a decision recognizing that forced pregnancy and forced motherhood violate the human rights of girls.
06.05.2025 (STATEMENT) — In a new victory for all girls in Latin America and the world, the UN Human Rights Committee has held Guatemala responsible for violating the human rights of Fátima, a girl who survived rape and became pregnant but was denied access to abortion due to the country’s restrictive regulations.
The UN recognized that Guatemala failed in its duty to protect Fátima, who at 13 years old was raped by a teacher who had also been an official of the agency responsible for protecting children in the country. Despite expressing several times that she did not want to be a mother, Fátima was forced to continue with the pregnancy, blamed for the violence she experienced, was forced to interrupt her studies, and suffered severe consequences to her overall health, including suicidal ideation. Meanwhile, her attacker was never captured, despite the case being reported.
In its ruling, the Committee emphasized that forced motherhood profoundly interrupts and limits girls’ life projects, affecting their personal, educational, and professional aspirations, and seriously violating their right to a dignified life.
Likewise, it recognized that the sexual violence, pregnancy, and forced motherhood that Fátima suffered caused her extreme suffering, including suicide attempts. It noted that the State’s refusal to provide her with essential reproductive health services—such as the legal abortion to which she was entitled—constituted a violation of her right to be free from torture, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, as well as a form of gender discrimination based on stereotypes about women’s reproductive roles.
To prevent cases like Fátima’s from recurring, the Committee ordered the Guatemalan State, among other measures, to guarantee access to health services such as voluntary pregnancy termination, eliminating any barriers; as well as to strengthen existing therapeutic abortion protocols so that no girl faces forced pregnancy and motherhood. Additionally, it ordered the creation of a public policy for reparations for survivors of sexual violence, forced pregnancy and motherhood; and to take actions to prevent sexual violence, including access to comprehensive sexual education. Finally, it demanded mandatory training for health, justice, and education personnel on gender, childhood, and human rights issues.
Statement by Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights
“For the fourth time this year, the UN has unequivocally stated that denying a girl of an abortion is cruel, inhumane, and degrading. We commend the Committee for again recognizing that reproductive rights are human rights, and that they are essential for gender equality.
For Fátima, the violence did not end after her sexual assault. It was perpetuated when she was denied the right to make decisions about her body and her future and was instead forced to become a mother. Fátima’s case is not unique. Thousands of girls around the world, including in the United States, are facing forced pregnancies and motherhood as a result of sexual violence. Today’s victory puts countries and states on notice to ensure that their laws protect the rights of girls and women, including their right to reproductive autonomy.”
Statement by Catalina Martínez Coral, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights
“All girls have the right to dream, to play, and to write their own history, and for that, they need their rights to be guaranteed. As a society, we have an agreement that the protection of girls is a priority. But that promise is broken when we do not give them access to all health services, including abortion, and force them to assume motherhood they do not want and for which they are not prepared. The Guatemalan state failed Fátima, and we all failed her as a society. With these decisions, states can now act, protect, and provide reparations. They can take real actions to stop sexual violence and prevent this painful story from repeating itself. We continue to fight so that all girls in the world are allowed to remain girls, not mothers.”
Learn more about the Fátima’s story
The Center for Reproductive Rights’ allied organizations in this litigation are: Planned Parenthood Global (Global), Mujeres Transformando el Mundo (Guatemala), Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva (Guatemala), Surkuna (Ecuador), Promsex (Peru), and Debevoise & Plimpton.