The Inter-American Court on Human Rights will consider its first case involving violence against women in Venezuela. A Venezuelan woman who was kidnapped, tortured and raped as a teenager brought the case before the court, arguing that Venezuela failed to protect her or hold her perpetrator fully accountable for his crimes. In 2007, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reviewed her case, finding that the “Venezuelan government failed to protect [the victim], did not investigate the case with ‘due diligence’ or provide proper care to her as a rape survivor.” Venezuela failed to act on these recommendations. The country also failed to respond to the commission’s broader concerns about the lack of medical and other services for victims, as well as the lack of protocols for investigating complaints of violence against women in Venezuela. The commission forwarded the case to the human rights court in 2016.
As reported by Thomson Reuters, human rights activists say “the case puts the spotlight on the lack of justice women face and [they] hope it will allow the court to outline the state’s responsibility in preventing gender-based violence.”
Compiled from: Moloney, Anastasia, Venezuelan kidnap victim takes claim against state to Americas top rights court, Thomson Reuters Foundation (February 6, 2018).