An indigenous woman has appealed to the UN Human Rights Commission against the total ban on abortion in Honduras, after she was prevented from terminating a pregnancy that was the result of rape, international and local women’s rights organizations announced Wednesday.

The 34-year-old applicant, who goes by the pseudonym Faucia, “is an indigenous and human rights defender of the Nahua tribe, a survivor of sexual assault, who was forced to face forced motherhood, due to the total ban on abortion in force” in Honduras and because she did not the morning-after pill (the use of which was approved again in March 2023) was available at the time the events unfolded, the NGO Center for Reproductive Rights and four Honduran collectives explained in a joint statement.

Fausia was “assaulted by two men and raped by one of them in retaliation for her work in defense of her area” in Olandso prefecture (east), as a result of which she “became pregnant”, says the announcement, which does not include exactly when is specified.

Rehina Fonseca, director of the Center for Women’s Rights, which helped her denounce the situation she faced at the UN Human Rights Commission, explained to AFP that the victim “has decided to go to the end to ensure justice” and prevent the possibility of other women having her own fate.

The appeal to this United Nations agency aims to secure the issuance of “a directive of the Human Rights Commission (…) in order to force the Honduran state to modify the legislative framework”, the announcement explains.

Under Honduran law, abortion is prohibited in all cases without exception, even if the pregnancy is the result of rape, even if the fetus has severe deformities, even if the life of the expectant mother is at risk.