This Monday, a court in El Salvador made history by acquitting 21 year old rape victim Evelyn Hernandez who suffered from a miscariage and was subsequently jailed, due to lack of evidence against her. Hernández was sentenced to 30 years in prison on a count of aggravated homicide in a country where miscarriages are still considered a crime, and when she was absolved she had already served 33 months of her sentence.

After being raped by a member of a local gang, Hernández fainted in her bathroom and gave birth on the toilet in her home, without any prior knowledge she was pregnant, and where her baby later died of natural causes. Upon arriving at the hospital, the doctors discovered she had given birth and called the police immediately, who detained her according to the country’s strict anti-abortion laws.

This is the first time that a new trial has been ordered in a case of this nature in El Salvador and the results could have important implications for the other (at least) 17 women who are currently in prison for similar reasons. Paula Avila Guille, director for Latin American Initiatives for the Women’s Equality Centre declared that the justice system in El Salvador is “starting to recognise that stillbirths aren’t crimes”, in what could be a huge step for women’s rights in the Central American country.

That’s why we present everything you need to know about the abortion laws in El Salvador and the current situation for women in the country.

Abortion laws in El Salvador and the region

Latin America is the most restrictive region in the world in terms of women’s reproductive rights, and within the region, Central America has the most oppressive and restrictive laws regarding abortion.

In El Salvador, abortion wasn’t always illegal, but a change in law in 1998 made it one of the strictest countries in the world. Now, abortion is illegal in all cases, and even miscarriages are considered as abortions.