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Human Rights Watch calls on Mexicos central government to
take immediate and concrete measures to guarantee swift and unobstructed access
to safe and free312
abortion services for victims of rape, incest, or estupro (intercourse with
an adolescent girl through seduction or deceit). In what follows, we identify
some essential steps.
Publicly support the right to immediate unhindered access to safe
and free abortion services in those cases where abortion currently is not
criminalized and in accordance with human rights standards. Urge state
governments to take immediate steps to guarantee this right.
Enact a federal law to effectively criminalize and punish
domestic and sexual violence against girls and women, including sexual abuse of
girls by parents or other family members.
Amend the Law on the Creation of the National Institute for Women
to explicitly include a mandate to further womens and girls access to
abortion where currently permitted by law.
Amend the penal code to explicitly criminalize marital rape, in
order to ensure compliance with the November 2005 Supreme Court ruling
declaring marital rape a crime.
Enact laws that ensure women access to voluntary, safe, and free
abortions after all forms of rape or incest.
Repeal penal code provisions that criminalize abortion,
especially those that punish women and girls who have had an abortion.
Establish a federally mandated age of consent for sexual
activities, with due consideration given to childrens evolving capacities.
Authoritative interpretations of international human rights law consistently
express concern with a legal age of consent at twelve years of age or below.
Clarify that all intercourse with children under the age of consent is
criminalized as statutory rape, whoever the perpetrator is.
Amend the General Health Law to guarantee the provision of safe
and free abortions at public health institutions.
Ensure continued participation of civil society actors with
expertise in womens rights and service provision for victims of violence
against women in the development of all future standards and guidelines on this
topic.
Expand the applicability of the national norm on services to
victims of domestic violence (NOM-190-SSAI-1999) to cover health services that
must be offered to all victims of sexual violence, whoever the perpetrator.
Revise the norm to include, inter alia, a mandatory offer to provide
voluntary, legal, and free termination of a potential pregnancy for all victims
of sexual violence, including adolescent girls.
Devote adequate resources to the dissemination of and training on
the Integrated Model for the Prevention of and Attention to Domestic and Sexual
Violence.
Ensure continued participation of civil society actors with
expertise in public health, womens rights, and service provision for victims
of violence against women in the development of all future standards and
guidelines on this topic.
Include the right to legal abortion after rape, incest, or
estupro as an essential part of the mandate of the National Program on Human
Rights within the Ministry of the Interior. Report annually on access to legal
abortion after rape, incest, or estupro in all states, and provide
administrative guidelines for how to integrate this right into individual state
policies and programs.
Publicly support the right to immediate unhindered access to
safe, humane, respectful, and free abortion services in those cases where
abortion currently is not criminalized and in accordance with human rights
standards.
Publicly announce and implement a zero-tolerance policy for
public officials failure to support victims of violence in their pursuit of
justice and redress, bearing in mind that such redress includes access to legal
and free abortion. Implement meaningful sanctions against public officials who
obstruct womens and girls right to abortion after rape.
Develop a five-year plan for the prevention, punishment, and
eradication of violence against women, which specifically includes steps to be
taken to ensure access to justice for rape and domestic violence victims, as
well as administrative steps to guarantee access to voluntary and safe abortion
after all forms of rape or incest.
Pardon and release all prisoners serving sentences for having
procured or induced abortions.
Repeal penal code provisions that criminalize abortion.
Until such time as these provisions are still in place, amend the
state penal codes and penal procedure codes to guarantee access to safe and
free abortion after all forms of rape or incest, including by establishing
clear procedures for access.
Enact or amend state laws to criminalize and punish domestic and
sexual violence against girls and women, and to ensure adequate protection
against the sexual abuse of children whoever the perpetrator. Rescind all
provisions that condition criminal sanctions on the moral standing of the
victim, as well as those that nullify criminal proceedings if the perpetrator
marries the victim. Repeal all provisions that penalize the child for the
crime of incest. Repeal all provisions that require domestic violence to be
repeated in order to be considered a violation of the law.
Amend or clarify existing state laws to 1) establish that a
victim of rape or incest does not need judicial authorization in order to
obtain a free and safe abortion procedure at a public health facility; 2)
establish adolescents right to consent to medical procedures as needed to
protect the best interests of the child and according to his or her evolving
capacities; and 3) require public health officials to assist rape victims in
accessing safe, humane, and free abortion procedures.
Require all appropriate government agencies to provide training
on preventing, investigating, and punishing violence against women, including
domestic and sexual violence, especially for health personnel, judges,
magistrates, police, and public prosecutors.
Announce through public information campaignsprint, radio, and
televisionthe provision of safe and free abortion procedures for victims of
rape or incest.
Implement the national norm on assistance to victims of domestic
violence, including provisions regarding data collection, provision of
contraceptives, and the referral of cases of presumed abuse to the justice
system, with due regard to patient confidentiality and informed consent.
Extent the provision of mandated services to all victims of violence, whoever
the perpetrator is.
Proactively investigate and sanction all health personnel who
harass or provide misleading information to rape victims or colleagues involved
in the provision of legal abortion services. Sanctions should include the
suspension or revocation of medical licenses for repeat offenders.
Devote adequate resources to the dissemination of and training on
state procedures to guarantee access to safe and legal abortion for rape and
incest victims.
Encourage women and girls to report domestic and sexual violence
to the police and the public prosecutors through swift and respectful
investigation and prosecution, the provision of adequate victim and witness
protection programs, and the establishment of accessible and adequately funded
specialized services for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Accessibility should be evaluated, inter alia, on the basis of geographical
distance to victims, victim costs associated with filing complaints, and
potential language barriers.
Systematically collect and analyze data and provide regular
public updates on the number of complaints filed for domestic and sexual
violence.
Support, or continue to support, public information campaigns
that publicize the provision of safe and free abortion procedures where legal,
including for victims of all forms of rape or incest. Such campaigns should be
carried out in Spanish and in indigenous languages, as appropriate, and should
appear in mass media that reach a majority of the Mexican population, including
those who are illiterate or not native Spanish speakers.
Proactively investigate and sanction all staff and associated
personnel, including public prosecutors, forensic doctors, and state expert
witnesses, who treat victims of rape, incest, or estupro dismissively,
neglectfully, or with disregard for the victims right to full redress.
Sanctions should include dismissal for repeat offenders.
Provide adequate and continuous training for all relevant
personnel on preventing, investigating, and punishing domestic and sexual
violence, as well as on girls and womens right to access legal abortion after
rape or incest. Devote adequate resources to the dissemination of and training
on state procedures to guarantee access to safe and legal abortion for rape and
incest victims.
Establish specialized centers, linked to the attorney generals
office, for legal accompaniment and psychological support services to victims
of domestic and sexual violence. These centers should be accessible and
adequately staffed and funded to assist all victims in a timely manner.
Eliminate questions on the rupture of the hymen in questionnaires
forensic doctors examining rape victims are required to fill out. Replace them
with questions aimed at determining signs or symptoms of forced vaginal
intercourse.
Provide or arrange for adequate physical and psychological
accompaniment and guidance for pregnant rape victims who have asked for a
voluntary legal abortion throughout the process leading to such abortion,
including continuous accompaniment and follow-up for those victims who need it.
[312] Where
abortion is not penalized, concern for the equal enjoyment of the right to
access a legal and safe abortion may require the state to provide abortion
services for free for some women and girls. This is the case with regard to
abortion after rape in Mexico. Those rape victims who can afford an
up-scaleas opposed to a back-alleyclandestine abortion, are already free to
ignore official channels (and obstacles) to obtain a publicly provided abortion
without necessarily risking their health and lives. Moreover, the obligation
on the part of the public health system to provide free abortion services for
rape victims is already law in some Mexican jurisdictions. National
legislation should not fall short of this level of protection
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