REDRESS - Breaking the Silence: Sexual Violence in Social Protests Across Latin America

Topic and background

As part of the project, we prepared a report mapping cases reflecting the intersection between protest, torture, and sexual violence in Latin America. The report draws from recent civil demonstrations across several countries in the region—including, but not limited to, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Venezuela. In all these contexts, individuals reported not only the disproportionate use of force as a means to suppress protests, but also episodes of unlawful detention, some of which involved acts of sexual violence perpetrated by state agents.

The findings of our mapping report were deeply alarming: Sexual and gender-based violence in protest contexts across Latin America is not incidental or isolated, but rather a deliberate tool of political and social repression. Evidence of this is how security forces have systematically used such violence to intimidate, punish, and silence women, girls, gender- diverse individuals, and Indigenous communities, reflecting deeply entrenched structural discrimination. In many cases, this violence meets the threshold of torture or ill-treatment under international human rights law.

Despite existing legal standards, there is a lack of clear operational protocols and differentiated approaches that consider gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. This gap enables impunity and perpetuates these abuses, undermining victims' rights and sending a tacit message of tolerance by State’s in the Americas.

In this regard, impunity not only prolongs victims' suffering but also discourages reporting and participation in social movements, weakening the right to protest. The violence is often invisibilized and normalized, reinforcing narratives that portray marginalized groups as threats to public order.

To address this, our project report calls for recognizing such violence as a form of torture and political repression, ensuring justice, and adopting intersectional data collection and analysis to account for diverse identities. Ultimately, tackling this issue is crucial to safeguard democratic participation and build more inclusive and equitable societies.

A strategic path to achieve this goal is to advance key pending litigation cases and “clear the dust” on issues that continue to generate debate among scholars and human rights advocates. This includes, for example, promoting a more nuanced understanding of the scenarios and concepts under which torture can occur during protests. A common challenge is that State officials responsible for prosecuting these cases often impose rigid and unattainable standards on victims, establishing practically impossible thresholds for torture to be legally recognized. This approach disregards the fact that, under applicable international law, torture can take place in a wide range of contexts, not only in the traditional setting of detention and interrogation to extract a confession. Other situations are equally plausible, and acknowledging them is central to our project’s objective. Through this initiative, we aim to support ReLeG members in advancing this perspective within their national advocacy and litigation work.

One example of this is the landmark case of the Inter-American Court “Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico”. The case focus on the events of May 3–4, 2006, when Mexican federal and state police forces conducted a large-scale operation in San Salvador Atenco and Texcoco to suppress protests against a proposed airport project. During this operation, 11 women were arbitrarily detained and subjected to severe physical, psychological, and sexual violence by state agents.

The Court found that the Mexican state violated multiple human rights, including the prohibition of torture, the right to personal liberty, and the right to judicial protection. It determined that the sexual violence inflicted upon the women constituted acts of torture and that these acts were part of a broader pattern of gender-based discrimination and repression. The Court also noted the use of gender stereotypes by authorities, which contributed to the victims' suffering and impeded their access to justice.

In its judgment, the Court ordered Mexico to implement several reparative measures:

• Conduct thorough and impartial investigations to identify and punish all responsible
  parties, including those in command positions.
• Provide comprehensive medical and psychological care to the victims.
• Offer public acknowledgment of the state's responsibility and issue formal apologies.
• Establish an independent observatory to monitor police conduct and prevent future abuses.
• Strengthen institutional mechanisms to combat sexual torture and ensure non-repetition

However, the Court has not been sufficiently proactive in supervising the implementation of its judgment, which has hindered the victims’ access to effective redress. A key component of our project is to emphasize the importance of advancing the supervision process—not only to ensure victims can access the reparations ordered, but also to help develop concrete standards for how states should implement reparations for specific victims. Most importantly, the project seeks to promote realistic and effective approaches to guarantees of non-repetition.

Objectives

Present key findings from the regional mapping report to highlight how sexual violence in the context of social protest remains an overlooked and under-documented issue in Latin America—and globally. The event aims to spark interest in replicating similar analyses in other regions, exploring the intersection of torture and protest in comparative contexts, having what we have found in our hemisphere as a reference.

Raise awareness of the urgent need for greater recognition, funding, and coordinated action to address this issue, emphasizing the role of international bodies, human rights NGOs, organized civil society, and academic institutions in supporting victims and promoting accountability.

Provide concrete example of pending international litigation that offers unique opportunities for the development of standards and effective protection of human rights victims – We will feature key actors involved in the landmark case Women Victims of Sexual Torture in Atenco v. Mexico and showcase the importance of promoting a more proactive approach for the Inter-American Court on Human Rights

Promote a broader legal understanding of torture under criminal law, showing how it can occur beyond the traditional context of interrogation in detention and other classical scenarios. Using the example of Chile, we will explore the gap between progressive legal frameworks and their implementation, and how rethinking legal standards can better reflect the realities of gender-based torture in protest contexts.

Spanish
Interpretation available: ESP, EN, FR, AR, RUS