The Guardian: El Salvador court frees woman on trial after bearing rapist’s baby
“A rape victim who was charged with attempted murder in El Salvador after giving birth to her abuser’s baby has been found not guilty and freed from jail. Imelda Cortez, 20, has been in custody since April 2017 after giving birth in a latrine to a baby girl fathered by her abusive stepfather. She was facing 20 years in prison after prosecutors argued that failing to tell anyone about the pregnancy or seek medical attention for the baby amounted to attempted murder. … In what’s been hailed a precedent setting ruling, the judge concluded that the court could not expect Imelda to have acted differently given the emotional and psychological damage inflicted by the sexual violence she suffered since childhood. Monday’s verdict was welcomed by campaigners who called for urgent reform to save other women suffering the dire consequences of El Salvador’s total ban on abortion…” (Lakhani, 12/17).