The wheels of international justice move slowly, but they do move, and there are times when you can see that perseverance pays off. This is one of those times. 

Yesterday, after over 20 years of seeking justice, the verdict in Brisa De Angulo Losada v. Bolivia has finally been delivered. Brisa won her case.

Brisa, like 1 in 3 girls in Bolivia, is a survivor of sexual violence. Raped repeatedly for months by an adult family member when she was 15, Brisa endured three legal trials in Bolivia but did not get the justice she deserved. Instead, she faced inhuman treatment from the Bolivian courts.

• In 2010, Brisa brought her case in front of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which later concluded that the State had failed to properly investigate and prosecute her case, and in doing so, violated her internationally protected human rights. 

• In 2015, Equality Now joined Brisa’s legal team, representing her in the Inter-American System.

• In 2020, the Commission referred Brisa’s case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), which held a hearing in March 2022 and issued its verdict yesterday.

Brisa’s intention in taking her case to the IACtHR was to request a significant and sustainable change in the laws and the criminal justice system, in education, and in the responsibility of the Bolivian State to prevent and address sexual violence so other survivors will not encounter the same injustices and revictimization that she experienced.

The groundbreaking judgment reflects and reinforces regional and international standards in the area of sexual violence against girls and adolescents, especially in the context of sexual violence suffered in the family environment. 

It is a model decision guaranteeing non-repetition measures by establishing legal changes, implementation, training, and prevention through comprehensive sexual education, alongside other very concrete measures that Bolivia must comply with and implement. It sets a strong precedent in the region to encourage broader change.  

Read more about this groundbreaking decision in The Guardian.
 

Why this Case Matters:

This was the first time in history that the IACtHR heard a case pertaining to the human rights violations of an adolescent victim of incest. The Court’s decision has established legal precedents for the Americas region, which could improve access to justice for millions of young victims of sexual violence - as our Failure to Protect report shows, Bolivia is not alone in the Americas region in failing to adequately prevent or address sexual violence. 

“This is an exceptionally progressive sentence that reinforces, draws on, and adopts all the best international legal and human rights standards on sexual violence against girls and adolescents regarding the prevention, treatment, sanction, and reparation of these crimes. The measures required by the judgment are legally binding for Bolivia.”

 -  Mónica Bayá, a lawyer from Comunidad de Derechos Humanos.
 

What happens next?

Equality Now and our partners will continue working within the Inter-American system to ensure Bolivia implements the ruling to its full extent.

Thank you for supporting this important case. Like and share our posts about the #EstamosConBrisa campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and continue to follow us as we #StandWithBrisa.
 

In solidarity,

Barbara Jimenez-Santiago 
Regional Representative, Latin American and the Caribbean