PERU-ABORTION-TBs-CEDAW
Concluding Observations on Report 9 (2022) (Link)
Health
37. The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party to prevent early pregnancies, including the National Multisectoral Policy for Children and Adolescents (2030), establishing guidelines aimed at reducing early pregnancies and prioritizing comprehensive sexuality education for basic education students. However, the Committee notes with concern:
(a) The lack of progress made in attaining the national goal of reducing early pregnancies by 20 per cent by 2021, and that 12.6 per cent of women and girls between 15 and 19 years old had children or were pregnant, according to the National Survey on Health and Family conducted in 2019;
(b) That the highly restrictive access to abortion in therapeutic cases has resulted in the denial of this procedure to women and girls who are victims of forced pregnancy through sexual violence, noting that in 2018 the National Victim Registry reported 5,266 cases of sexual abuse and that 201 women and girls had children of their aggressors;
(c) Provisions in criminal legislation that hold women criminally liable for accessing abortion in non-therapeutic cases, forcing women and girls to resort to unsafe abortion at the risk of their life and health;
(d) Economic barriers that restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, including emergency contraception, for rural women and girls, as well as indigenous and Afro-Peruvian women;
(e) Reports of forced sterilization of women and girls, in particular women and girls with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, despite the prohibition in law;
(f) The limited access for women living with HIV/AIDS to prevention programmes, treatment and quality care and support, and the stigmatization and discrimination faced by them.
38. In line with its general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Reduce maternal mortality, including by legalizing abortion in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant woman or severe fetal impairment, decriminalize it in all other cases, and provide women with access to safe abortion and post-abortion comprehensive care and services, in particular in cases of complications resulting from unsafe abortion;
(b) Develop and approve an exclusive technical health standard for differentiated comprehensive care for girls who are pregnant as a result of rape, in accordance with international human rights standards for children and adolescents, ensuring that medical personnel are trained to ensure specialized attention for victims, including the provision of essential services for emergency contraception and abortion;
(c) Develop and strengthen the capacities of health personnel in the implementation of the National Technical Guide for the Standardization of the Procedure for the Comprehensive Care of the Pregnant Woman in the voluntary interruption for therapeutic indication of pregnancy of less than 22 weeks;
(d) Intensify inclusive awareness-raising programmes to ensure that women and girls, and in particular those from marginalized groups, have confidential access to modern contraceptives and information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including their right to make autonomous decisions, and to eliminate discriminatory gender stereotypes and attitudes regarding the sexuality of women and girls;
(e) Ensure that no sterilizations are performed without the free, prior and informed consent of the woman concerned, that practitioners performing sterilizations without such consent are adequately punished and that redress and adequate financial compensation are provided without delay to women who are victims of non-consensual sterilizations;
(f) Provide free access for all women and girls to COVID-19 vaccination and collect disaggregated data on the impact of COVID-19 on women’s health in the State party;
(g) Ensure a comprehensive approach to access prevention programmes, treatment and quality care and support to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis within sexual and reproductive health care, in both urban and rural areas, and implement strategies to prevent and counter stigmatization and discrimination against women living with HIV/AIDS.
Concluding Observations on Report 7-8 (2014) (Link)
5. The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to improve its institutional and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, such as the adoption of the following:
(a) Technical guidelines on therapeutic abortion, in 2014;
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35. The Committee welcomes the adoption of technical guidelines for therapeutic abortion and the approval of a plan to prevent early pregnancy. It is concerned, however, that the two conditions required for therapeutic abortion (presence and signature of a witness and approval of a board) may constitute barriers to access to safe abortion. The Committee reiterates its concern:
(a) That the recognition and protection of the reproductive health rights of women in the State party are inadequate;
(b) That abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest is criminalized and that the restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion may lead women to seek unsafe and illegal abortions;
(c) That article 30 of the General Health Act and section 326 of the Code of Criminal Procedure violate the privacy and reproductive health rights of women and result in the prosecution of women for accessing emergency obstetric care;
(d) That the free distribution of emergency contraceptives has been banned, including in cases of sexual abuse.
36. Taking into account its statement on sexual and reproductive health and rights, adopted at its fifty-seventh session, in February 2014, the Committee notes that unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. As such, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Extend the grounds for legalization of abortion to cases of rape, incest and severe foetal impairment;
(b) Ensure the availability of abortion services and provide women with access to high-quality post-abortion care, especially in cases of complications resulting from unsafe abortions;
(c) Remove punitive measures for women who undergo abortion, including by taking the measures necessary to harmonize the General Health Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure with the constitutional right to privacy;
(d) Ensure that the exercise of conscientious objection by health professionals does not impede effective access by women to reproductive health-care services, including abortion and post-abortion care;
(e) Ensure access to family planning services, in particular in rural areas, and adopt all measures necessary to carry out the free distribution of emergency contraceptives within the public health system, in particular to women and girls who are victims of sexual abuse;
(f) Develop the capacity of medical staff on the right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, with a view to ensuring that health services are adequately provided to women and girls;
(g) Disseminate information on the technical guidelines on therapeutic abortion among all health staff and ensure a broad interpretation of the right to physical, mental and social health in their implementation.
Concluding Observations on Report 6 (2007) (Link)
24. The Committee expresses its concern about the inadequate recognition and protection of the reproductive health and rights of women in the State party. It is particularly concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancies, which presents a significant obstacle to girls’ educational opportunities and economic empowerment, and about the limited availability of emergency contraceptives, particularly in the rural areas. The Committee notes with concern that illegal abortion remains one of the leading causes of the high maternal mortality rate and that the State party’s restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion, which is legal, may further lead women to seek unsafe and illegal abortions. It is further concerned that the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee in KL v Peru (CCPR/C/85/D/1153/2003 (2005)) were not adhered to by the State party.
25. The Committee urges the State party to step up the provision of family planning information and services to women and girls, including emergency contraception, and to promote sex education widely, in particular in the regular education curriculum targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to the prevention of teenage pregnancies. The Committee also urges the State party to provide women with access to quality services for the management of complications arising from unsafe abortions so as to reduce women’s maternal mortality rates. The Committee urges the State party to review its restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion, which is legal, to place greater emphasis on the prevention of teenage pregnancies and to consider reviewing the law relating to abortion for unwanted pregnancies with a view to removing punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion, in line with the Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Committee further calls upon the State party to comply with the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee in KL v Peru.
Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2002) (Link)
482. The Committee is concerned about the situation of women’s health and particularly their reproductive health. The Committee is especially concerned about the disappearance of the Women, Health and Development Programme. The Committee notes with concern the high maternal mortality rate and particularly mortality resulting from illegal abortions, including among adolescents, and the requirements that may prevent women from obtaining medical treatment in abortion cases. The Committee is also concerned about the inadequacy of sex education and the limited dissemination, availability and supply of all contraceptive methods, particularly among indigenous women and in the most vulnerable sectors of the population, as well as among adolescents. The Committee notes with concern that the rate of HIV/AIDS infection among women is increasing, particularly among young women.
Concluding Observations on Report 3-4 (1998) (Link)
339. The Committee notes with concern that there is a close link between the number of abortions performed and the high maternal mortality rate, and it stresses that criminalizing abortion does not discourage abortions, but rather has the effect of making the procedure unsafe and dangerous for women.
340. The Committee recommends that the Government of Peru review its law on abortion and ensure that women have access to full and complete health services, which include safe abortion, and to emergency medical attention when complications arise from abortions. The Committee also requests that information be included in the next periodic report on the implementation of these measures and on the health services that are available to women who need emergency medical attention as a result of complications arising as a result of abortion.
Concluding Observations on Report 2 (1995) (Link)
425. In reply to questions regarding the legislation relating to abortion and its practice, the representative informed the Committee that the Penal Code of 1991, which replaced that of 1924, provided for imprisonment up to two years in practice, however service for illegal abortion was implemented. She stated that the Peruvian Government considered abortion to be a serious public health issue and the principal cause of mortal maternity, especially among poor women. She added that the law provided only for therapeutic abortion, which was available only when the mother’s health or life was in danger. Doctors had to face a more severe punishment depending on whether the woman had consented and whether the abortion had led to her injury or death.
426. Members requested information on the country’s population policy, as well as more statistical data on the health situation. They also asked whether data were available on the prevalence of contraception. The representative quoted statistics which showed that in 1993, the maternal mortality rate was 261 per 100,000, a decrease since 1981, when the rate had been 321. She informed the Committee that maternal mortality rates among women without formal education were higher than the national average and higher than the rate 10 years previously. The main factors identified as causes were abortion and inadequate sanitation. Estimates of rates of infant and child mortality were an average of 64 and 92, respectively, per thousand for the period 1981-1991. The representative informed the Committee that in Peru only half of childbirths were attended by professionals. However, in rural areas only 18 per cent of births were attended. She pointed out that the number of persons affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was increasing and that the registered number in 1992-1993 was higher than the total registered from 1983 to 1991. She said that there was a growing proportion of women and children among the affected. She emphasized that, despite the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS, insufficient attention had been paid to the disease and the response of the judicial-legal system to it was inadequate. She informed the Committee that when the disease had been first discovered, there was only one woman victim for each 20 affected men; today, the proportion was one woman for each four men. She stated that this increase reflects women’s social, biological and epidemiological vulnerability.
443. The health status of women and children in Peru was of great concern to the Committee, particularly as regards high maternal mortality rates resulting from clandestine abortions.
446. The Committee urges the Government to look into the causes of high maternal mortality rates arising from clandestine abortions and to review the law on abortion, taking into consideration the health needs of women and to consider suspending the penalty of imprisonment for women who have undergone illegal abortion procedures.
447. The Committee suggests further that the Government seek the cooperation of medical associations and of judges and lawyers to consider more expansive use of the therapeutic exception to the criminal prohibition of abortion, in cases of danger to the mother’s health.
Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1990) (Link)
266. Regarding article 12, information was requested on the legal provisions relating to abortion, the number of clandestine abortions and the extent to which women had access to family planning programmes and to public health services, especially maternal and child health and in the rural areas. It was asked whether the rates of infant and maternal mortality had decreased.
279. Concerning article 12, the representative stated that abortions were legal only to protect the life of the woman, and there was a high number of clandestine abortions. In terms of family planning, the general population law referred to responsible paternity in the sense of an equal responsibility for both women and men, and family planning had been added to secondary school curriculum, but there were no programmes to make contraceptive devices available. The effect of the general lack of resources to provide health services could be seen in the return of incidences of tuberculosis, a disease that had almost disappeared in the 1970s.
This content was last updated in December 2022