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	No girl should be forced to carry the child of her rapist by UN Human Rights Committee   The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Guatemala violated the rights of a girl who became pregnant as a result of rape by forcing her to continue the pregnancy and into motherhood. According to the Committee, this amounted to a breach of her right to live with dignity and reproductive autonomy, and subjected her to treatment comparable to torture.   The Committee published today its decision against Guatemala in a case involving a 14-year-old girl who was raped on multiple occasions, denied access to legal abortion, and compelled to assume parental responsibilities under coercive circumstances.   “This is the fourth case the Committee has recently examined on terrible similar situations involving other States in the sub-region,” said Committee member Helene Tigroudja.   “No girl should be forced to carry the child of her rapist. Doing so robs her of her dignity, her future, and her most basic rights,” she said, adding that “This is not just a violation of reproductive autonomy — it is a profound act of cruelty.”   Fatima was 14 when she became pregnant after being raped by an ex-director of a public day-care centre that she attended as a child. The rapes occurred after she had left the institution. Her aggressor had maintained contact with the family after Fatima left the institution and earned their trust by providing financial support. When her mother learned about the abuses, she reported them and then was bribed and threatened by the perpetrator, his wife and their family.   Despite nine years of criminal proceedings, during which the perpetrator continuously pressured Fatima and her family to drop the case, he escaped justice. Guatemala did not properly investigate the rape, nor did it take effective action to prosecute the perpetrator. Since then, Fátima has been stigmatized as a girl who became sexually active at an early age.   As it was impossible to obtain justice and effective remedies in Guatemala, Fatima brought her case to the Committee, claiming her rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) were violated.   Guatemala is one of the Latin American countries with the highest rates of both forced motherhood and systematic impunity for sexual violence. Although the Guatemalan Criminal Code allows abortion in specific situations to avoid a threat to the life of the mother, access to legal abortion is almost impossible in practice.   Despite her very young age and the foreseeable risks of pregnancy and delivery, Fatima was forced to carry out her pregnancy. After a traumatic and almost fatal delivery, Fatima was forced to breastfeed the child despite her expressed wish not to see him or be involved in his care.   The sexual violence and forced pregnancy caused Fatima severe suffering, resulting in two suicide attempts as the only way to escape from her future forced motherhood. Nine years later, the child born out of rape is living with Fatima’s mother, but she is the one struggling to help cover his food, clothing and schooling expenses.   The Committee concluded that the State party had violated her right to life under Article 6 of the ICCPR, recalling that the right to life also refers to the right to enjoy life in dignity and requires States to adopt positive measures towards the full realization of everyone’s right to sexual and reproductive health.   “Silence and inaction by the State are not neutral; they are not only violation by omissions but also factors of revictimization. Forcing a child into motherhood through neglect is a grave human rights abuse,” Tigroudja said.   The Committee also found that Guatemala had violated Article 7 of the ICCPR, which prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment as the Covenant refers not only to physical pain but also to moral suffering.   “In addition to the trauma of the rapes, the pregnancy and forced motherhood, she suffered a high level of distress caused by a combination of acts and omissions attributable to the State party”, Tigroudja said.   The Committee also concluded that it is a case of intersectional discrimination. “This case reveals how gender, age, and poverty intersect to silence the most vulnerable,” said Tigroudja.   The Committee called on the State party to establish a system to record and monitor cases of sexual violence, pregnancy and forced motherhood among girls and adolescents and to work towards its eradication.   It also asked the State party to take measures to remedy the damage incurred by the forced pregnancy and forced motherhood on Fatima’s life plans, by enabling her to complete higher education and pursue extracurricular areas that will empower her to advance her life goals.   Guatemala is also requested to make a public acknowledgement of responsibility and to guarantee access to education and psychological care for her child born out of rape.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/rape-lost-childhood-guatemala-found-responsible-forcing-girl-survivor
	Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less by United Nations News, UN Women   Mar. 2025 (UN News)   The basic rights of women and girls are facing unprecedented growing threats worldwide, from higher levels of discrimination to weaker legal protections -and less funding for programmes and institutions which support and protect women.   UN Women’s latest report Women's Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing, published on the UN 50th International Women’s Day on 8 March, shows that in 2024, nearly a quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash on women’s rights.   Despite decades of advocacy, economic instability, the climate crisis, rising conflicts and political pushback have contributed to a worsening landscape for gender equality.   While 87 countries have been led by a woman at some point in history, true parity is still a long way off. Alarmingly, UN Women reports that a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a family member or intimate partner.   The digital space is also exacerbating gender disparities, the UN agency argues, with artificial intelligence and some social media platforms amplifying harmful stereotypes. Meanwhile, women and girls remain underrepresented in digital and tech-related fields.   Without robust and gender-responsive social protections, vulnerable people can fall through the cracks. Women and girls are more likely to be at risk for poverty or to experience it, as evidenced in 2023, where 2 billion women and girls had no social protection coverage. In 2024, 393 million women and girls were living in extreme poverty.   In the past decade, there has been a disturbing 50 per cent increase in the number of women and girls directly exposed to conflict, and women’s rights defenders confront daily harassment, personal attacks and even death, UN Women said.   These findings underscore that crises such as COVID-19, soaring food and fuel prices, and the undermining of democratic institutions are not just slowing progress – but actively reversing gains.   “When women and girls can rise, we all thrive,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the day. Yet, “instead of mainstreaming equal rights, we are seeing the mainstreaming of misogyny.”   “Together, we must stand firm in making human rights, equality and empowerment a reality for all women and girls, for everyone, everywhere,” he emphasised.   UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous echoed this urgency: “Complex challenges stand in the way of gender equality and women’s empowerment, but we remain steadfast. Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less.”   As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2025, the most visionary roadmap for furthering women’s rights, UN Women's latest report shows progress that must be acknowledged.   Since 1995, countries have enacted 1,531 legal reforms advancing gender equality, maternal mortality has dropped by a third and women’s representation in parliaments has more than doubled.   Yet, as the report makes clear, significant work remains to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The newly introduced Beijing+30 Action Agenda outlines priority areas to accelerate progress.   While countries may signal their commitments to gender equality through adopting gender-responsive and inclusive policies, without follow-through and proper funding, they may have little impact in the long term.   Equal access to technology and online safety must be ensured for all women and girls, while investments in social protection, universal health care and education are all deemed essential for women’s economic independence.   Women-led organizations must receive dedicated funding to build lasting peace and women’s leadership in environmental policies must be prioritised, ensuring equal access to green jobs.   Meanwhile, countries must adopt and implement legislation to end violence against women and girls, in all its forms, with well-resourced plans that include support for community-based organizations on the front lines of response and prevention.   Turning words into action   As gender equality faces one of its most challenging periods in decades, UN Women is calling on governments, businesses and civil society to reinforce their commitments to women’s rights, to ensure that all women and girls, everywhere, can fully enjoy their rights and freedoms.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/07/fifteen-years-fifteen-facts-challenges-and-solutions-for-gender-equality http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/international-womens-day http://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/womens-rights-in-review-30-years-after-beijing-en.pdf http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2025/02/womens-rights-in-2025-hope-resilience-and-the-fight-against-backlash http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/timeline/never-backing-down-women-march-forward-for-equal-rights http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/the-beijing-declaration-and-platform-for-action-at-30-and-why-that-matters-for-gender-equality http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5856-thirty-years-implementation-beijing-declaration-and-platform http://www.unicef.org/adolescent-girls-rights http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/gender-equality-essential-women-and-girls-right-development-un-expert   * Mar 2025: 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women   In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations from 10 to 21 March 2025. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the sessions.   The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   States submitted national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered and regional commissions of the United Nations also undertook regional reviews:   http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women/csw69-2025/preparations#_National_review http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women/csw69-2025/preparations#_Regional_review http://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2025/L.1 Visit the related web page
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