22. The petitioners also allege that the State violated Article 4 of the American Convention by failing to provide Paola del Rosario with prompt medical attention and failing to offer to take her immediately to a hospital, because in its view “it was too late” to help her. 18 They assert that the State violated the right to physical, mental and moral integrity, protected under Article 5 of the American Convention, by virtue of the sexual violence perpetrated against her by a civil servant, while she was in the care of the State. As for the right to personal liberty, protected under Article 7 of the American Convention, the petitioners contend that the right to humane treatment includes, inter alia, the right to personal liberty and security, the right to be treated with the respect inherent in the human being, the right to privacy, women’s right to physical autonomy and not to be subjected to unwelcome physical invasions of her body, according to international human rights standards.19 23. With regard to Article 24 of the American Convention, the petitioners assert that the judicial and administrative behavior and negligence of the State authorities, both in processing the administrative case and in conducting the criminal case, have been discriminatory. Their position is that the State’s failure to exercise due diligence in investigating and punishing the acts of sexual violence serves to reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes that blame women for the violence committed against them, favoring the social impunity of these cases. B. Position of the State 24. The State contends that the petition is inadmissible because the remedies under domestic law have not been exhausted, namely the criminal case, the internal proceedings to seek reparation and the civil case seeking damages. It asserts that the petitioners want to use the Inter-American Commission “to review the merits of the administrative and criminal The petitioners allege that the school doctor said that “If Paola had swallowed 11 “diablillos” at 10:30 a.m., it was his opinion that by 2:00 p.m. when she came to the infirmary it was already very late, so he opted to urgently call the family members.” Report of the Office of the Provincial Director of Education, January 23, 2003, attached to the original petition received at the IACHR on October 2, 2006. 19 The petitioners cite as a source in this regard the Human Rights Committee, General Comment 6: The Right to Life (Article 6), 30/07/82, in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, UN document HRI/GEN/1/rev.1 (1996). 18 10

Select target paragraph3