Center’s Cases at the UN Seek New Human Rights Standard to Ensure Safe Abortion and Protections for Sexual Abuse Survivors

The Center for Reproductive Rights and its partners are awaiting decisions in a set of lawsuits filed with the United Nations Human Rights Committee on behalf of four girls from Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua who survived sexual violence. The cases, filed in 2019, demand accountability, justice, and reparations for Norma, Fátima, Susana, and Lucía, who were denied access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion, following rape when they were all under the age of 14.  

The litigation also addresses ongoing systemic human rights violations happening throughout Latin America, where girls are regularly subject to forced pregnancy and childbirth after experiencing sexual abuse. Consequently, the litigation calls on Ecuador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua—as well as countries worldwide—to adopt and implement legal protections and policies to ensure the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls. 

This innovative litigation approach is the first time four cases have been presented at the same time to the UN Human Rights Committee to tackle a regional issue. The cases are a key component of the “Son niñas, no madres” (“They are girls, not mothers”) movement that sheds light on the negative impacts of highly restrictive abortion laws in Latin America and the Caribbean.  

The Center filed the cases in collaboration with Planned Parenthood Global, Mujeres Transformando el Mundo Guatemala (MTM), Observatorio en Salud Sexual y Reproductiva Guatemala (OSAR), Surkuna Ecuador, and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. 

Four Girls Ask the UN to Protect Their Rights 

The girls at the center of these cases—Fátima, Lucía, Norma, and Susana—are asking the UN to protect their sexual and reproductive rights based on a shared experience with serious physical, mental, and social consequences. Each one of them was sexually assaulted and then forced to continue unwanted and forced pregnancy as well as forced motherhood.

• Fátima, from Guatemala, was raped at 13 years old by a teacher, who was also a former official with the agency in charge of protecting children. She was forced to continue the pregnancy resulting from the abuse. She was blamed for the pregnancy by the health personnel who attended to her, and the justice system never caught her aggressor.  
• Lucía, from Nicaragua, faced sexual violence from a priest in her town when she was 13 years old. She never had access to information or comprehensive sexual education and was forced to give birth despite the fact that she did not want to continue the pregnancy. 
• At age 12, Norma, from Ecuador, was raped by her father, who impregnated her, and she was forced into unwanted motherhood. Although, at that time, the law in her country stated that girls and women could access legal abortion when their lives and health were at risk, this option was denied to her.  
• Susana, from Nicaragua, became pregnant at the age of 13 as a result of repeated sexual abuse by her maternal grandfather. Despite her decision not to continue the pregnancy—and despite the risk it posed to her life—she was forced to continue with the pregnancy, and she gave birth without prior medical care or support from the healthcare system. Susana never received assistance in dealing with the trauma, and the criminal complaint against her aggressor was rejected at least five times. She never obtained justice and the perpetrator was never apprehended.

In addition to holding the governments of Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Ecuador accountable for violating the girls’ human rights, the Center and its partners are asking the Committee to create an international standard to:

• Promote the amendment of abortion laws to ensure that all persons, especially girls, can access this essential health service without discrimination.  
• Regulate abortion services in the health care system and not in the penal system, as established by the World Health Organization.  
• Adopt measures so that girls can be heard and their decisions can be guaranteed and acknowledge that forcing them to be pregnant and give birth against their will is torture. 

Such a ruling could lead to strengthening of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) protections, especially for survivors of sexual abuse throughout Latin America and worldwide, and establish historic precedent impacting international laws.

Abortion Rights and Access in Latin America and the Caribbean 

Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region where the rate of pregnancy in girls under 15 years old is increasing, with two out of every 100 women in the region giving birth before the age of 15. Maternal mortality is one of the leading causes of death in adolescents and young people aged 15 to 24 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and this situation is aggravated in children under 16, who are four times more likely to die from complications in pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum.   

Though the Green Wave movement has brought liberalization of abortion laws in Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and other countries in the region, many Latin American countries continue to restrict and criminalize abortion.

• Abortion is prohibited altogether in Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Suriname, leaving tens of millions of women in Latin America unable to access this basic health care. 
• Countries like Guatemala, Venezuela, and Paraguay allow abortion only in cases where there is a risk to a pregnant person’s life, which is often interpreted to mean immediate and imminent death.
• In Perú, Bolivia, and Costa Rica, abortion is legal only when a pregnant person’s health and life is at risk—and the reality is that women and girls continue to face major obstacles accessing abortion care.
• Ecuador allows abortion in cases when a pregnant person’s health or life are at risk and, more recently, in cases of rape—but significant social, economic, and logistical barriers continue to prevent women, girls, and pregnant people from accessing care. 

The timing for a decision in these cases by the Committee is unknown but could come at any time. 

> Case details: Explore the cases in-depth, including legal arguments, filings and more.

> Report: Teenage Pregnancy, Sexual Violence and Impunity in Latin America and the Caribbean, October 2024