Peruvian Government Publicly Recognizes Human Rights Violations Against Rape Survivor

The Peruvian government publicly acknowledged the human rights violations suffered by L.C., a rape survivor who was denied a medically-necessary abortion, as part of a historic United Nations (U.N.) ruling.

Peru’s Minister of Justice, Aldo Alejandro Vásquez Ríos, admitted the government’s failure to guarantee L.C.’s right to access legal abortion services at a convening today with health officials and civil society organizations, including the Center for Reproductive Rights and PROMSEX. In 2011, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) condemned Peru for violating L.C.’s human rights and recommended that Peru amend its law to allow abortion in cases of rape; ensure the availability of those abortion services; and guarantee access to abortion services when a woman’s life or health is in danger—circumstances under which abortion is already legal in the country.

The Center and PROMSEX brought L.C. v. Peru to CEDAW and negotiated the reparations agreement with the Peruvian government. This decision marks the third time in history that an international human rights body held a government accountable for failing to ensure access to legal abortion services. The Peruvian government was also held accountable by the Human Rights Committee in 2005 for failing to guarantee access to abortion to K.L., a woman who was forced to continue with a pregnancy that put her physical and mental health at risk, and recently provided her reparations.

Read the full article from the Center for Reproductive Rights now.