This Rape Victim Is On Trial For Murder After Suffering A Stillbirth
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Giving birth to a stillborn is one of the most tragic things any mother can go through. In the UK, you might be offered support, counselling and maybe even flowers - in El Salvador, you could be charged with murder.
Evelyn Beatríz Hernández Cruz is just woman in the Central American country - in which abortion is illegal - who is facing charges such as this after giving birth to a stillborn baby.
Staff informed the police and she was transferred to a women's prison where she awaited trial for killing an unborn child.
Despite coroners finding aspiration pneumonia to be the cause of death, Hernández was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide.
After serving three years, her sentence was annulled and Hernández was released. In the time she has been free, she has gone back to school and got a part-time job.
However, on Thursday (23rd), Hernández, now 21, is due to have her second day in court in the case that the Salvadoran seem unwilling to be dropping lightly.
Paula Ávila-Guillén, director of Latin America Initiatives at the Women's Equality Center, told BuzzFeed News "there is an intentional, systematic persecution of women, of poor women," in El Salvador.
Hernández has garnered nationwide attention with women's rights activists and fellow Salvadoran women rallying around for her acquittal and other women who are on trial for obstetric emergencies.
Since 2009, over 38 women have been freed, while 16 remain incarcerates, according to Buzzfeed News.
El Salvador has been ranked one of the most dangerous countries for women. In 2016 alone, 524 women were killed, according to Institute of Legal Medicine.
Update: Evelyn Hernández has been acquitted of all charges. According to AFP news agency, Hernández said: "Thank God, justice has been done," adding: "My future is to continue studying and to move forward with my goals. I am happy."