Enforcement of the Decision and Outcomes
In the immediate aftermath of the decision, there was very little progress on implementation. The Peruvian government did offer financial reparation to K.L. but she declined the offer due to a lack of acknowledgment by the State itself that her rights had been violated, and the inadequacy of the amount. In practice, many women continued to be denied legal abortion services in Peru. (For details on certain compliance related issues, please see: http://bit.ly/1R582BG)
Rights groups took legal action before Peruvian courts, and petitioned the HRC to ensure the Peruvian State’s adequate compliance. Moreover, UN human rights bodies have consistently raised concerns regarding the denial of access to legal abortion services in Peru. All of this may have had an impact in recent developments reflecting progress on enforcement; for example, in 2014, the Peruvian government adopted national guidelines for providing safe abortion services that afford clarity for physicians and patients on legal abortion in the country. However there have been significant challenges in implementing this protocol.
In addition, in November 2015, around a decade after the HRC ruling was issued, the Peruvian Government agreed to pay compensation to K.L. in line with the Committee recommendations. In response, Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the groups that represented the petitioner, stated, “the Peruvian government has taken an important step to abide by the United Nations’ decision. But this work is far from over. It’s time for Peru to clarify and implement its safe abortion guidelines and continue improving access to critical reproductive health services for all women and girls.”