While Cortez was in hospital, her stepfather visited her, threatening to kill her, her siblings and her mother if she reported the abuse. Another patient overheard and told a nurse, who called the police.

At first, prosecutors accused Cortez of inventing the abuse to justify her crime, until a DNA test confirmed the baby’s paternity. Her stepfather is yet to be charged.

“This is a shameful delay tactic used by the Attorney General’s office in order to avoid the international spotlight on its heinous treatment of poor women and girls. In the meantime, Imelda, a survivor of rape, continues to be treated as a perpetrator and held in prison away from her family. The prosecutor should know this: despite their delay tactics and thinly-veiled excuses, the international community will not turn our backs as El Salvador violates the human rights of a young, poor rape survivor.”