Women & girls’ rights in Latin America & the Caribbean

An overview of women’s rights in the region

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, women and girls continue to face widespread gender-based violence, discriminatory laws, and barriers to justice. Despite legislative progress and international commitments – including CEDAW and the Belém do Pará Convention – weak enforcement, cultural norms, and legal loopholes hinder full gender equality. Key issues include high rates of femicide, sexual violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), and restricted reproductive rights, particularly affecting Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and marginalized women​.

Sexual violence and barriers to justice

Gender-based violence remains one of the most pressing human rights concerns in the region, with systemic failures in prevention, protection, and prosecution.

Key Regional Issues:

• High rates of sexual violence and impunity
  Sexual violence is pervasive across Latin America and the Caribbean, and impunity remains the norm. Countries like Bolivia and Mexico report particularly high rates, reflecting the scale and urgency of the problem in the region. Underreporting is widespread due to stigma, fear of retaliation, and limited institutional trust.
• Gaps in legal definitions of rape
  Many countries in the region still define rape based on the use or threat of force rather than lack of consent. These outdated definitions fail to align with international human rights standards and reinforce harmful myths that hinder access to justice.
• Judicial bias, weak implementation, and lack of intersectional approaches
  Even where laws have improved, enforcement remains inconsistent and often ineffective. Survivors face legal delays, victim-blaming, and poor institutional responses. These challenges are especially acute for women, girls, and adolescents from marginalized communities, who face systemic discrimination and a lack of gender- and intersectionality-informed approaches throughout the justice system.

Recommendations for governments across the region:

• Adopt a consent-based definition of rape across all legal systems, in line with international human rights standards​.
• Eliminate discriminatory provisions in existing legislation that perpetuate harmful stereotypes or obstruct access to justice for survivors.
• Strengthen implementation of laws by ensuring survivor-centered legal processes, institutional accountability, and training for justice system operators on gender and intersectionality.
• Expand access to legal aid, shelters, and mental health support for survivors, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities​.

> Learn more in our 2021 report, Failure to Protect: How Discriminatory Sexual Violence Laws and Practices are Hurting Women, Girls, and Adolescents in the Americas

Child marriage and legal loopholes

Child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) continue to disproportionately affect girls across the region, reinforcing cycles of poverty, violence, and limited education.

Key regional issues:

• Legal loopholes allowing child marriage: While most countries have set the legal marriage age at 18, many -including Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay – still allow exceptions with parental or judicial consent, exposing girls to coercion and exploitation​.
• High prevalence of informal unions: Many child marriages occur outside legal frameworks, particularly in rural, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant communities, making them difficult to regulate and prevent​.
• Economic and social drivers: Poverty, gender inequality, and lack of access to education and economic opportunities increase the risk of child marriage and forced unions​.

Recommendations for governments across the region:

• Eliminate all legal exceptions that allow CEFMU under 18, ensuring alignment with international human rights standards​.
• Strengthen child protection laws and enforcement mechanisms to monitor and prevent early unions​.
• Expand education and economic opportunities for girls, reducing their vulnerability to forced unions​.

> Learn more in our 2024 policy brief, Ending Child, Early and Forced Marriages and Unions in Colombia

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

Type I FGM/C is known to be practiced by the Embera indigenous people in Colombia, normally on newborn babies. It is estimated that two out of every three Emberá women have suffered FGM/C. Other indigenous communities and Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizales, and Palenqueras communities may practice FGM/C. While awareness-raising efforts have led some communities to abandon the practice, FGM remains a hidden issue with limited legal prohibitions. 

In 2025, the Colombian Congress is debating a bill to prohibit FGM. If passed, Colombia would become the first country in Latin America to explicitly ban FGM by law.⁣

Key regional issues:

• Lack of legal prohibitions: No countries in the region have specific laws on FGM, leaving women and girls at risk​.
• Limited access to justice and support services: Many survivors lack medical care, legal recourse, and psychological support​.
• Absence of national policies addressing FGM: Governments fail to collect data or implement prevention programs, making it difficult to address the issue effectively​.

Recommendations for governments across the region:

• Create specific legislation to prevent, address, and eradicate FGM, ensuring compliance with CEDAW and human rights treaties​.
• Implement culturally sensitive community outreach programs to engage Indigenous leaders in FGM prevention​.
• Expand healthcare and support services for survivors, including reconstructive surgery and trauma counselling.

Sex-discriminatory laws and nationality rights

Women in several countries across the region face legal discrimination that limits their rights in critical areas such as nationality, property, and participation in public life.

Key regional issues:

• Nationality laws that discriminate against women: In countries like the Bahamas, Barbados, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, women cannot automatically pass nationality to their children or foreign spouses, or their ability to do so can be refused, leading to statelessness risks​.
• Unequal inheritance and property laws:  In some countries, male heirs are prioritized, and women’s property rights remain restricted, reinforcing economic dependence. In Chile, for example, Article 1749 of the Civil Code still designates the husband as head of the conjugal partnership and administrator of shared and personal property, despite constitutional guarantees of legal equality.
• Legal barriers to economic and political participation: Women continue to face barriers to leadership, financial independence, and land ownership due to outdated laws​.

Recommendations for governments across the region:

• Amend nationality laws to ensure equal rights for women in conferring citizenship​.
• Ensure equal inheritance and property rights for women, in alignment with CEDAW and human rights principles​.
• Promote legal reforms to enhance women’s participation in economic and political life, ensuring barriers to leadership and financial independence are removed​.

Equality Now works with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to end sexual violence and harmful practices, and address discriminatory laws. Following the release of our 2021 report, Failure To Protect: How Discriminatory Sexual Violence Laws And Practices Are Hurting Women, Girls, And Adolescents In The Americas, we have continued to work in partnership with organizations across Latin America to reform sexual violence laws and improve their implementation to ensure access to justice for survivors of sexual violence.