On June 5, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled against Guatemala in a case involving a teenage girl who was raped and forced to continue her pregnancy. Fátima’s case was originally brought to court by the movement Son Niñas, No Madres in 2019, after she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by a teacher and was forced to give birth despite asserting she did not want to continue the pregnancy. The Committee recognized that the State had violated Fátima’s rights to a dignified life, as she was denied the decision-making power over her bodily autonomy, which was further limited due to discrimination and gender stereotypes. The Committee also acknowledged that these restrictions generated social, economic, and psychological challenges for Fátima. Therefore, it ruled that going forward, Guatemala must ensure access to gender-sensitive reproductive health services, establish preventative measures for sexual violence, and collect data to create a public reparation policy for survivors of sexual violence, forced pregnancy and forced motherhood. This ruling is one of several on the issue in recent years in Latin America and offers hope and a sense of justice to girls facing unwanted pregnancy and motherhood.
Compiled from: “Guatemala: UN Committee calls for guarantees that no girl will be forced to become a mother,” Amnesty International, June 9, 2025.