UN finds Guatemala⁤ responsible for forced ​pregnancy‍ of girl

⁣ ‌ Updated June 10, 2025
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The UN Human Rights Committee has ⁢ruled against‍ Guatemala for violating‌ the ⁤rights ‌of a girl, Fatima, ‍who ⁤was ⁤forced to continue a pregnancy after‌ being sexually assaulted by⁣ a teacher. The ruling,⁤ announced June 5, 2025, is the ⁣result of litigation⁤ initiated by the “They are girls, not mothers” movement.

The⁢ committee found that Guatemala violated fatima’s rights ⁤to​ a dignified life, to⁢ make autonomous decisions about her body, to receive information, and to equality and non-discrimination. The UN body ‍stressed that forced motherhood interrupts girls’ personal, educational and professional goals.

Fatima, ⁤who was from a low socioeconomic background, was raped⁣ between 2009 and 2010, when she​ was 13. The⁢ committee also recognized⁣ that the sexual violence,forced pregnancy,and ‌forced motherhood caused ‍her extreme suffering,including suicide attempts. The state’s refusal to provide her with reproductive health services ‌was considered cruel ‌and inhuman treatment, and a form of discrimination.

The ⁣committee demanded that Guatemala ensure access to reproductive health services, prevent sexual violence through extensive sex education, create a public‌ reparation policy for survivors, establish a national‌ registry⁢ of sexual violence‍ and forced pregnancies,​ and provide mandatory training for personnel on‌ gender, children, and human rights.

According to the National Registry of Persons, between 2018 and ⁣2024, there were more than 14,000 births in girls ⁣aged 10 to 14 in Guatemala. Guatemala’s Sexual and Reproductive Health ⁢Observatory documented 556 births in girls of the same ⁢age range between January and March 2025.

The decision in Fatima’s case joins previous rulings against Ecuador and Nicaragua in January 2025, and ​against Peru in 2023.

This ruling is a basic precedent in the protection ⁢of ​the human rights ⁢of girl⁤ victims of sexual violence and reaffirms the‍ responsibility of the guatemalan authorities to guarantee⁤ access to⁢ justice, comprehensive‌ reparation and non-repetition. Just​ as importantly, ⁣this conviction is a crucial step towards justice ​for Fátima and​ her firm desire that no⁣ girl’s ​childhood should ⁣be taken away from her.

The movement They are girls, not mothers

With the decision in Fátima’s case, the United Nations has recognized something that ‍we can no longer continue to ignore: no girl in ‍this world⁣ should ever be forced to become a mother. Our girls were‌ born to⁣ learn, to ​play, to dream of radiant futures—not to​ mother or bear the consequences of ‌violence. Forced motherhood is a ‌form of torture.

Catalina Martínez Coral, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive ‍Rights

What’s next

The “They are girls, not mothers” movement is calling⁤ on the Guatemalan state to comply with its international obligations⁤ and implement measures to‍ prevent forced motherhood. The ruling obliges ⁣Guatemala and over 170 states that signed the International Covenant on⁣ Civil‍ and Political rights ⁢to modify their legislation to guarantee the voluntary termination ‌of pregnancy.