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VIII. Detailed Recommendations

To the Federal Government of Mexico:

Human Rights Watch calls on Mexico’s 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.

To the President of Mexico:

  • 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.

    To the Federal Congress:

  • 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 women’s and girl’s 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 children’s 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 women’s rights and service provision for victims of violence against women in the development of all future standards and guidelines on this topic.

    To the National Health Ministry:

  • 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, women’s rights, and service provision for victims of violence against women in the development of all future standards and guidelines on this topic.

    To the National Ministry of the Interior:

  • 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.

    To State Governments and the Government of the Federal District:

    To State Governors and the Head of Government for the Federal District:

  • 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 women’s 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.

    To Local Congresses and the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District:

  • 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.

    To Health Ministries of the States and the Federal District:

  • Announce through public information campaigns—print, radio, and television—the 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.

    To the Attorney General Offices of the States and the Federal District:

  • 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 women’s 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 general’s 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.

    To the Integrated Family Service Agencies (Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, DIF) of the states and the Federal District:

  • 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-scale”—as opposed to a back-alley—clandestine 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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