We – civil society organizations, medical associations and professionals dedicated to the protection of the human rights of women as well as the promotion and access to their sexual and reproductive rights – express our support to those who intervened professionally in the case of the abused girl in the province of Jujuy carrying out medical practice. We repudiate the persecution of health professionals who worked in compliance with the rules and who acted within their ethical and legal duties. The methods of persecution and harassment are unworthy of a democratic society where the freedom of conscience of all professionals must be respected. Likewise, we repudiate the irresponsible disclosure of confidential information that re-victimises the girl and her family, both by health professionals and journalists, but above all by the health authorities who should assume the main responsibility of guaranteeing medical secrecy. This case in the province of Jujuy should serve as a lesson for the whole country. We call for the whole society to allow this girl and her family to recover their lives; the high court to punish the sexual attack on this girl; and the local and provincial authorities to ensure that comprehensive sexual education is effective, that access to health care is truly accessible without delay and without re-victimisation.
Signed: Red de Acceso al Aborto Seguro Argentina; Red de Profesionales de la Salud por el Derecho a Decidir; Asociación Metropolitana de Equipos de Salud; Sociedad Argentina de Ginecología Infanto Juvenil; Asociación Civil Fueguina de Equipos de Salud; Sociedad de Medicina Rural de Neuquén; Federación Argentina de Medicina General; Asociación Médica Argentina de Anticoncepción, Salud Sexual y Reproductiva; Asociacion Pampeana de Medicina General; Asociación Santafecina de Medicina General y Familiar; Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género; Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad; Amnistía Internacional Argentina; Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales; Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables
SOURCE: REDAAS, by Nadia Ferrari, 18 January 2019 (en español)