The Public Ministry of Guatemala has officially concluded the First International Legal Congress on Violence Against Women and Sexual Offenses — a landmark legal initiative that brought together national and international prosecutors, forensic experts, investigators, and institutional authorities to strengthen strategies in the prosecution of gender-based crimes.

Organized by the Women’s Affairs Secretariat and UNICAP, with support from the Justice Sector Modernization Secretariat and the NGO El Refugio de la Niñez, the congress provided a high-level platform for legal analysis, inter-agency collaboration, and cross-border knowledge exchange.

Critical Topics of Legal and Forensic Importance:

• Criminal investigations incorporating a gender-sensitive and intersectional approach
• The evidentiary value of psychological assessments, social work evaluations, and forensic-medical reports in criminal proceedings
• Application of customary law and family law in adjudicating sexual violence cases
• Victim consent protocols in conducting forensic examinations in cases of sexual assault
• Trauma-informed analysis of the short- and long-term psychological and physical impacts of sexual violence on minors, adolescents, and adult victims

The congress underscored the necessity of recognizing how social identifiers—such as gender, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic background, and immigration status—can affect victims’ access to justice, and may influence the course of the criminal justice process.

Participants advocated for the implementation of immediate protection measures, adherence to victim-centered practices, and multidisciplinary coordination to ensure due process, evidence integrity, and victim safeguarding.

The event concluded with a symbolic recognition ceremony, led by Lucrecia Varinia Vásquez Abadía, Secretary for Women, and Sergio Ortiz, Director of UNICAP, who presented certificates of acknowledgment to the legal and academic contributors.

Through this congress, the Public Ministry reaffirms its institutional mandate to ensure effective criminal prosecution, promote access to justice with a gender perspective, and reinforce victim protection mechanisms throughout the legal process.

Guatemala, August 22, 2025